Editions

MicroFest Amsterdam 2025
This new edition of MicroFest Amsterdam opens in the morning with two perfectly tuned microtonal instruments: the 31-tone guitar and the 31-tone organ, featuring works by René Uijlenhoet and Aart Strootman. The afternoon concert pays tribute to Mexican composer, violinist, and microtonal thinker Julián Carrillo—born 150 years ago—who divided the octave into 96 microtones. This program features Carrillo’s own perfectly matched instruments: the 96-tone Carrillo piano and Carrillo harp. Finally, the evening concert presents a dazzling performance by the eight-piece ensemble The Hallucinating Harmonists, where elements of jazz and fusion are heard in a refreshingly disorienting new way. Between the main concerts, there will also be a free lecture and an additional performance.

Expeditie 31 | 11.00 – 12.00 hours
Duo Expeditie 31: Stefan Gerritsen, 31-tone guitar | Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ
The program features works by René Uijlenhoet, Sebastian Dumitrescu, Bill Alves, Luys de Narváez, Charles Corey, and Aart Strootman.

Lecture about Julián Carrillo by Juan Felipe Waller | 13.30 – 14.15 hours (gratis entree)
The Mexican-Dutch composer Juan Felipe Waller will give a lecture on Julián Carrillo.

De 13de toon van Julián Carrillo | 15.00 – 16.00 hours
Julián Carrillo 150 years anniversary trio: Ernestine Stoop, Carrillo harp | Anne Veinberg, Carrillo piano | Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ
Works by among others Julián Carrillo, Matthias Kadar, Juhani Nuorvala and Juan Felipe Waller

The 31-tone hyperorgan | 16.30 -17.15 hours (free entrance)
This free concert features pieces for a Fokker organ controlled by a laptop.
On the program are works by Danny de Graan, Fabio Costa, Christopher Trapani, John Franek, Reilley Smethurst, Peter-Jan Wagemans and Jago Thornton.

The Pleasance of Disorientation | 2015 – 21.30 hours
Sander Germanus & The Hallucinating Harmonists: Frank Anepool, trompet | Vitaly Vatulya, sopraan- en altsaxofoon | Olivier Sliepen, altsaxofoon | Ties Mellema, tenorsaxofoon | Anne Veinberg, keyboards | Melle Weijters, elektrische gitaar | Pieter van Lier, elektrische basgitaar | Peter Burgers, drums
On the program several composition by Sander Germanus

MicroFest Amsterdam 2019
At this year’s edition of the festival, the microtonal specialists Ensemble SCALA, Vokalprojekt 31, and Scordatura Ensemble will once again take the stage. The latter ensemble will present a concert program built around the original recording of a lecture given by Harry Partch in 1942. In addition, Vokalprojekt 31 will perform works in the 31-tone system by composers Henk Badings and Jan van Dijk, while Ensemble SCALA will showcase, among other things, new compositions by Julia Werntz and Piet-Jan van Rossum. Between these three concerts, two additional free performances will take place: a lecture recital by Georg Vogel featuring improvised music, and a concert by the four clarinetists of Clarinets in Space. In short, a lively musical day for anyone with an ear for a different sound.

Contrasten | 11.00 – 12.00 hours
Vokalprojekt 31: Valeria Mignaco, soprano | Alfrun Schmid, mezzo soprano/alto | Daan Verlaan, tenor | Erks Jan Dekker, baritone | m.m.v. Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ
The program includes works by Henk Badings, Adriaan Fokker, Jan van Dijk, Anton de Beer, Frans van Doorn, Bill Coates and Fabio Costa.

Clarinets in Space | 13.30 – 14.15 hours (free entrance)
Fie Schouten, bass clarinet
Roadrunner Trio: Michel Marang, clarinet / Antonis Pratsinakis, cello / Erica Roozendaal, accordion Clarinets in Space: Denise van Leeuwen, Bb clarinet / Michel Marang, A clarinet / Fie Schouten, basset horn / Bram Boesschen Hospers, bass clarinet
Works by Rozalie Hirs, Cecilia Arditto and Sander Germanus

Harry Partch – Lecture 1942 | 15.00 – 16.00 hours
Scordatura Ensemble : Reinier van Houdt, Chromelodeon | Chris Rainier, voice, Adapted Guitar I & Kithara I | Elisabeth Smalt, Adapted Viola & Kithara I | Alfrun Schmid, voice & Kithara
The program consists entirely of works by Harry Partch.

The music of Georg Vogel | 16.30 – 17.15 hours (free entrance)
Georg Vogel, M-Claviton

The Evening of the Microtone | 20.15 – 21.45 hours
Ensemble SCALA: Raymond Honing, flute | Michel Marang, clarinet | Manuel Visser, viola | Stefan Gerritsen, microtonal guitars | Ivan Pavlov, Carrillo piano/keyboards | Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ | Mervyn Groot, percussion
Works by Juhani Nuorvala, Piet-Jan van Rossum, Joachim F.W. Schneider, Sebastian Dumitrescu, Cecilia Arditto, Julia Werntz, Matthias Kadar and Melle Weijters

MicroFest Amsterdam 2015
For the second time, the Huygens-Fokker Foundation is organising a festival for microtonal music in Amsterdam, titled MicroFest Amsterdam 2015. A central theme running through the programs of this edition is the 31-tone music of the Italian composer Nicola Vicentino, a pioneer in the renewal of meantone temperament. His four enharmonic madrigals from 1555 were first published in modern notation in 1990 in the series Corpus Microtonale (The Diapason Press, Utrecht), made possible through the financial support of the Huygens-Fokker Foundation. Now, 460 years later, this one-day festival offers a wonderful opportunity to present his forward-looking music to today’s audiences.

Concert 1 | 11.00 – 12.00 hours | SCALA’s Spectrum
Ensemble SCALA: Raymond Honing, flute | Michel Marang, clarinet | Manuel Visser, viola | Stefan Gerritsen, microtonal guitars | Ivan Pavlov, Carrillo piano/keyboards | Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ | Glenn Liebaut, percussion
On the program are works by Danny de Graan, Nicola Vicentino, Peter Adriaansz, Eric Verbugt, Giovanni Battista Orazi and Joachim F.W. Schneider.

Lecture 1 | 13.30 – 14.15 hours | Agustín Castilla-Ávila (free entrance)
A presentation and demonstration of the possibilties of a special microtonal guitar.

Concert 2 | 15.00 – 16.00 hours | Nicola Vicentino, a second life
Scordatura Ensemble bestaat uit: Alfrun Schmid, voice | Elisabeth Smalt, viola | Reinier van Houdt, keyboard | m.m.v. Benjamin Marquise Gilmore, violin | Lucas van Helsdingen, bass clarinet
The program includes works by Nicola Vicentino, Yannis Kyriakides, Juan Felipe Waller, John Croft, Anne La Berge, Lucia d’Errico, Hans Koch, Harald Muenz, Scott McLaughlin, Christopher Fox and Linda Buckley.

Lecture 2 | 16.30 – 17.15 hours | Christopher Fox (free entrance)
The second lecture of the day is a tribute to the recently deceased musicologist Bob Gilmore.

Concert 3 | 20.15 – 21.30 hours | New & old harmonies in 31-tone system
Vokalprojekt 31: Valeria Mignaco, soprano | Alfrun Schmid, mezzo soprano/alto | Edward Leach, tenor | Arnout Lems, baritone | m.m.v. Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ
Compositions by Fabio Costa, Nicola Vicentino, Cipriano De Rore, Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Sigismondo d’India, Sander Germanus, Carlo Gesualdo, Luca Marenzio, Nicola Vicentino and Fabio Costa

MicroFest Amsterdam 2011
In December 2011, the Huygens-Fokker Foundation will present the first microtonal festival in the Netherlands, under the title MicroFest Amsterdam 2011. With this initiative, the foundation follows in the footsteps of MicroFest in Los Angeles and UK MicroFest in London. A key feature of the festival concerts is that, unlike the Fokker organ concerts which are based on 31-tone technique, performances can also focus on other microtonal systems. Attention will be given, among others, to 31-tone music, 19-tone music, quarter-tone music, 96-tone music, music in Bohlen-Pierce tuning, meantone temperament, and music based on the harmonic series—all built on well-established octave divisions.

11.00 – 12.15 hours: Le Club Microtonal
Ensemble SCALA: Raymond Honing, flute | Michel Marang, clarinet | Manuel Visser, viola | Stefan Gerritsen, 31-tone guitar | Keiko Shichijo, keyboards & Carrillo piano | Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ | Adam Jeffrey, percussion
The program features works by Gabriel Madden, Michiel Mensingh, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Charles Delusse and Sander Germanus.

13.30 – 14.30 hours: Lecture performance by dr. Bob Gilmore
Bob Gilmore will give a lecture on two pioneers of microtonal music: Ivan Wyschnegradsky and Harry Partch.

15.00 – 16.00 hours: From 19 to 96 notes in an octave
Keiko Shichijo, Carrillo piano | Anne La Berge, flute
Works by Martin Imholtz, Alain Banquart, Larry Polansky, Juan Felipe Waller, Anne La Berge, Bernfried E.G. Pröve and David Lang.

16.30 – 17.15 hours: Forum | Microtonal music in praktice
Several experts and performers of microtonal music will engage in a discussion, led by artistic director Sander Germanus.

20.15 – 21.30 hours: Bohlen-Pierce meets Huygens-Fokker
Nora-Louise Müller & Ákos Hoffman, Bohlen-Pierce clarinets | Ere Lievonen, Fokker organ
The program includes works by François Gabriel Madden, Manfred Stahnke, Hans Kox, Georg Hajdu, Tarquinio Merula, Owen Bloomfield, Danny de Graan, Sascha Lino Lemke and Ivan Wyschnegradsky.