DOWNLOAD PRESS KIT TIES MELLEMA / DOWNLOAD PRESS KIT PEAX
Taking on and then overcoming challenges and telling a story are always at the heart of Ties’ work. Whether it’s the false-polyphonic cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach on baritone saxophone, the monomaniac Gradus by Philip Glass or the extreme free jazz by his hero John Coltrane: Ties always goes in search of the boundaries of disciplines and the possibilities on his instrument. He continuously challenges himself to retell the music’s story. He lets his instrument speak – as opposed to sing, as is normally the case.
In 2015 Ties fell seriously ill for a number of years and besides playing the saxophone he began composing with electronics. After 20 years of playing in the Amstel Quartet, which he co-founded, Ties decided it was time to follow his own path. He claims that since then, he has been making more intense and specifically more intuitive music. You can hear that in his concerts and his own compositions, mostly with his new group PEAX with percussionist and drummer Barry Jurjus. On stage Ties tells a compelling story that draws in the listener and takes him along on an auditory journey.
Ties has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Netherlands Music Prize. Various albums featuring Ties, both as solo artist and ensemble player, were released by Amstel Records.
Ties Mellema has an Eppelsheim bass saxophone on loan from the collection of The Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation and plays Légère reeds.
Ties’ multi-facetted style of working has brought him worldwide recognition and collaborations with, to name but a few, Gustavo Dudamel, Concertgebouw Tracks, MTV, Tania Kross, the Four Baritones, Hans Dulfer and Rembrandt Frerichs. Together with director Jos van Kan, composer Ian Wilson and stage designer Michiel Voet Ties made The End of Desire: a personal and abstract music theatre performance in which he incorporated his injury—an accident that almost meant the end of his career as a musician.
Professor of saxophone
Ties Mellema is professor of saxophone at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts Conservatory in Tilburg and runs the biggest saxophone class of The Netherlands together with his colleague Andreas van Zoelen. More info here.
Supported by:
Ties Mellema has an Eppelsheim bass saxophone on loan from the collection of The Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.
Ties is a member of performance space Splendor Amsterdam where he and 50 other musicians from all styles program their own shows.
