Expedition 31 | 11:00 – 12:00 a.m.

What happens when two instruments are tuned in exactly the same extraordinary tuning, namely the 31-tone tuning? Stefan Gerritsen on the 31-tone guitar and Ere Lievonen on the 31-tone organ provide the answer to this intriguing question. Although the tuning is identical, the sound of each instrument is very different, creating a fascinating play of timbres. Adding to this, the programme includes both new compositions and early music, promising a highly varied concert experience. A new work by René Uijlenhoet, who usually composes for electronics, will be performed alongside a premiere by the highly acclaimed composer and guitarist Aart Strootman. The two musicians will also perform old Spanish Renaissance music originally written for instruments such as the vihuela, a precursor of the guitar. Solo works are also featured, including a 2022 composition for 31-tone guitar by the microtonally adept Finnish/Romanian composer Sebastian Dumitrescu, and a clever 2017 piece by the American composer Charles Corey, who, as curator of the Harry Partch instruments, has extensive experience with microtonality. The concert will conclude with a spectacular improvisation by these two masterful musicians. Tickets

Duo Expeditie 31:
Stefan Gerritsen, 31-tone giutar | Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ

Programme

René Uijlenhoet (1961) – Earwitness (2025) premiere

Sebastian Dumitrescu (1989) – Noctilucens (2022) voor elektrische 31-toongitaar

Bill Alves (1960) – On the Motions of Pendulums (2021)

Luys de Narváez (1500?-1555?) – Diferencias por otra parte

Charles Corey (1984) – Folding I (2017)

Aart Strootman (1987) – new work (2025) premiere

Stefan & Ere – improvisatie

Lecture about Julián Carrillo by Juan Felipe Waller | 1.30 – 2.15 p.m. (free entrance)

The Berlin-based, renowned Mexican/Dutch composer Juan Felipe Waller will give a lecture on the extraordinary musical world of the famous Mexican composer, violinist, and microtonal pioneer Julián Carrillo. Waller composed his work Lhorong in 2011, and its second part in 2015, for Carrillo piano and Fokker organ, in which he explored the similarities between the two instruments and brought together his Mexican and Dutch roots.

The 13th note of Julián Carrillo | 03.00 – 04.00 p.m.

A concert dedicated to the 96-tone system of Julián Carrillo, who would have celebrated his 150th birthday this year. The Mexican microtonal composer Carrillo, who in 1958 met Professor Adriaan Fokker among others at the UNESCO Congress in Paris, divided the octave into 96 minute steps, called the Sonido-trece system (the thirteenth tone), referring to far more tones than the twelve of the conventional system. For all his efforts in this field, he received considerable recognition during his lifetime, including even a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1950. Despite growing up in poverty in Ahualulco, Mexico, where he was born on 28 January 1875, Carrillo developed into a talented violinist and composer. Following self-study and formal training in Mexico City and Leipzig, Germany, he discovered in 1895 the possibility of a sixteenth tone on the violin. Carrillo studied in Europe and achieved success in international competitions. In 1905 he returned to Mexico and became an influential figure in the musical world. From 1924 onwards, he dedicated himself to composition and developed the Sonido-trece system, a microtonal system with 96 tones per octave. Carrillo composed in various microtonal systems and even had special pianos built for his works. He gained renown and received praise for his Sonata si fantasia (1926) and Concertino (1927). His classical and thematic music, often notated in numeric notation, became well-known in the 1960s through recordings made in France. Carrillo passed away on 9 September 1965, but his daughter Dolores dedicated herself to preserving his legacy.

The success of this preservation is evident in the fact that contemporary composers continue to write for this system, such as the well-known Finnish composer Juhani Nuorvala, who wrote the calming composition Kaiho for the 96-tone piano. Also on the programme is a work for Carrillo piano and Fokker organ by the Berlin-based Dutch/Mexican composer Felipe Waller, who for his subtly minimalist piece Lhorong translated the numbers 31 and 96 from the tuning systems into latitudes and longitudes, arriving at the eponymous village in Tibet. These two instruments, based on different tuning systems, may seem incompatible on paper. Yet in practice, they blend remarkably well: the tones of the 31-tone organ deviate imperceptibly from 31 closely corresponding tones on the 96-tone piano, also known as the Carrillo piano, which is likewise owned by the Huygens-Fokker Foundation and of which only a few exist worldwide. This exquisite instrument will be performed by both Anne Veinberg and Ere Lievonen. In addition, the renowned harpist Ernestine Stoop will also appear during this concert with her rare Carrillo harp, which she had specially built for herself; the instrument resembles a zither more than a traditional harp. Central to the programme is a trio featuring this 96-tone Carrillo harp, entitled Hangszon (“loudspeaker” in Hungarian), composed by the Berlin-based Franco-Hungarian composer Matthias Kadar. Further compositions from the repertoire of these extraordinary microtonal instruments will also be performed, including several pieces by Julián Carrillo himself. In short, an exciting microtonal journey awaits! Tickets

Julián Carrillo 150 years anniversary trio:
Ernestine Stoop, Carrillo harp | Anne Veinberg, Carrillo piano | Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ

Programme

Danny de Graan – Vaga Lux (2025) premiere

Juan Felipe Waller (1971) – Lhorong, 31ºN 96ºE (2011)

Julián Carrillo (1875-1965) – Amacer in Berlin 13: I. Despacio (rev. 1957)

Martin Imholz (1961) – 5 Stücke für 16tel Ton Klavier (2001)

Matthias Kadar (1977) – ‘Hangszon’ (2018)

Juhani Nuorvala (1961) – Kaiho (2017)

Veinberg/Stoop – Improvisation on a theme of Julián Carrillo’s Preludio a Colon

The 31-tone hyperorgan | 4:30 – 5:15 p.m. (free entrance)

The Fokker 31-tone organ has also been considered one of the first hyperorgans in the world since 2008/2009, according to a study at Harvard University. This means the organ can be computer-controlled thanks to its system with MIDI input and output, a language facilitating communication between computer and musical instrument. Over the past fifteen years, numerous works have been composed for the Fokker organ controlled via laptop. During this free late-afternoon concert, a cross-section of these works will be performed.

Programme

Danny de Graan (1973) – Forma (2009)

Fabio Costa (1971) – Ludus Harmonicus (2024) premiere

Christopher Trapani (1980) – Forty-nine, Forty-nine (2010/2011)

John Franek (1996) – Radiolarium (2023)

Reilly Smethurst (1986) – Sad Climax (2023)

Peter-Jan Wagemans (1952) – Dizzy (2024)

Jago Thornton (1995) – Hyper-vortex (2023)

The Pleasance of Disorientation | 08.15 – 09.30 p.m.

The Hallucinating Harmonists is a new, unparalleled ensemble of eight musicians and a composer, using specially modified and adapted instruments, enabling them to play instantly in different tunings. Among other effects, this technique challenges the listener’s musical understanding while simultaneously creating a constantly renewed perception of music. The group subtly and delightfully disorients the audience with previously unheard harmonic progressions, counterintuitive rhythms, and tempo modulations. The way in which listeners can be pleasantly disoriented merely by having their musical expectations unsettled is fascinating, and the ensemble explores this concept in inventive and original ways.

Their performance consists of a series of diverse, original compositions by Sander Germanus, based on innovative musical principles, with harmonies that sound fresh, disorienting, natural, and surprising. Each piece is written in a completely different musical style—yet all within the same idiom—drawing influences from jazz, contemporary, classical, fusion, ambient, and avant-garde pop music. Combined with the outstanding musicians of The Hallucinating Harmonists, the result is a truly unique and immersive musical experience. Tickets

The Hallucinating Harmonists:
Sander Germanus, composition | Frank Anepool, trumpet | Vitaly Vatulya, soprano- and alto saxophone | Olivier Sliepen, alto saxophone | Ties Mellema, tenor saxophone | Anne Veinberg, keyboards | Melle Weijters, electric guitar | Pieter van Lier, electric bass guitar | Peter Burgers, drums

Programme

Works by Sander Germanus (1972)

– Vertigo

– Stretch Your Ear!

– Jetties

– Rock My Hammerfest

– Bending Spoon

– Launch

– Dizzy

– Amsterdam Trip