MicroFest Amsterdam 2025 | festival for microtonal music

Festival | March 23, 2025 - 11.00-21.30 hours | Small Hall, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam

MicroFest Amsterdam 2025

In On Sunday 23 March 2025, MicroFest Amsterdam returns! This one-day festival is entirely dedicated to music with intervals that are smaller than the usual whole and half tones. This fourth edition focuses on 24-, 31- and 96-tone music and pays special attention to the Mexican composer, violinist and microtonal pioneer Julián Carrillo, who was born exactly 150 years ago in 2025. The program shows the versatility of microtonal music, with perfectly matched instruments and innovative compositions in various styles. The festival opens with Expeditie 31, in which guitarist Stefan Gerritsen and organist Ere Lievonen let two instruments sound together that are both based on the 31-tone tuning of the famous seventeenth-century Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens. In the afternoon, harpist Ernestine Stoop, pianist Anne Veinberg and organist Ere Lievonen will pay tribute to the visionary Mexican composer Julián Carrillo, who divided the octave into 96 small tonal intervals. The festival ends with a dazzling performance by The Hallucinating Harmonists, in which jazz and fusion elements can be heard in a new, pleasantly disorienting way. In between, there are two free components, namely a lecture on the life and work of Julián Carrillo and a fascinating concert in which the Fokker organ is controlled by laptops. After the concerts in the Kleine Zaal of the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, you can have a nice chat downstairs in brasserie Dudok aan 't IJ. In short: a day full of musical discoveries for those who love a groundbreaking sound!

Programme MicroFest

Expedition 31 | 11.00 - 12.00 hours

How do two musical instruments sound together that are both tuned in the particular 31-tone tuning? Stefan Gerritsen on the 31-tone guitar and Ere Lievonen on the 31-tone organ answer this exciting question. Although the tuning may be the same, the sound of the instruments is very different, which can create beautiful sound colors and timbres.
New works have been composed especially for Duo Expeditie 31. For example, the musicians will play premieres by the established composer René Uijlenhoet, who is specelectronics, and by the acclaimed composer/guitarist Aart Strootman. In addition, old Spanish Renaissance music will be performed, originally written for the vihuela (predecessor of the guitar), to show the historical tuning in its purest form. For the work of the American post-minimal composer Bill Alves from 2021, Anne Veinberg will join the duo on the Carrillo piano.
The program also includes solo works. The first is a work for 31-tone guitar from 2022 by the experienced Finnish-Romanian microtonal composer Sebastian Dumitrescu. In addition, a cunning composition for Fokker organ from 2017 by the American composer Charles Corey, who as curator of the Harry Partch instruments has a lot of experience with microtonality too. The concert ends with a sensational improvisation by both thoroughbred musicians. Tickets

Duo Expeditie 31 : Ere Lievonen, 31-tone organ | Stefan Gerritsen, (electric) 31-tone guitar
with the cooperation of Anne Veinberg, Carrillo piano

Programme

René Uijlenhoet (1961) – Earwitness (2025) premiere

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

Charles Corey (1984) – Folding I (2017)

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

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

Aart Strootman (1987) – nieuw werk (2025) premiere

Stefan & Ere – improvisatie

Lecture on Julián Carrillo (Juan Felipe Waller) | 13.30 - 14.15 hours (free entrance)

Mexican-Dutch composer Juan Felipe Waller, who lives in Berlin, will give a lecture on the extraordinary musical world of Mexican composer, violinist and microtonal pioneer Julián Carrillo (1875-1965), who inspired many to compose and perform microtonal music.
Carrillo composed in various microtonal systems, founded ensembles and designed innovative instruments to make microtonal music possible, such as the famous 96-tone piano, but also adapted harps and string instruments.
Although he was considered 'the grand old man' of Mexican music and gained international recognition, Carrillo also encountered opposition both inside and outside Mexico because his work often clashed with traditional musical ideas. As a result, his innovative approach and thematic music (often in numerical notation) were regularly criticized and marginalized. Waller offers a deeper insight into Carrillo’s life’s work.

The 13th note of Julián Carrillo | 15.00 - 16.00 hours

A concert dedicated to the 96-tone system of Julián Carrillo (1875-1965), who was born 150 years ago this year. The visionary Mexican microtonal composer and violinist Carrillo developed a revolutionary theory called Sonido 13 (the 13th note - referring to more notes than the twelve of the conventional tone system). In it, he stated that music could evolve further by using intervals smaller than a semitone. He even managed to divide the octave into 96 tiny steps, with which virtually every interval and chord can be accurately approximated. Carrillo received a great deal of recognition for all his efforts in this area during his lifetime, including a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1950.
Professor Adriaan Fokker met the Mexican 'atom splitter of music' in 1958 at the UNESCO congress in Paris. During this concert, you will hear what music could have resulted from this meeting. Because although the Fokker organ and the Carrillo piano seem incompatible on paper, these instruments turn out to sound wonderfully well together. Pianist Anne Veinberg and organist Ere Lievonen demonstrate this in Lhorong by the Dutch-Mexican composer Juan Felipe Waller. For this slightly minimalist work, Waller explored the similarities between the Carrillo piano and the Fokker organ and interwove his Mexican and Dutch roots.
This afternoon, another rare instrument by Carrillo can also be admired, namely a 96-tone harp. The acclaimed harpist Ernestine Stoop had this instrument, which looks more like a zither, built especially for herself. The programme includes a trio for Carrillo harp, Carrillo piano and Fokker organ entitled Hangszon (‘loudspeaker’ in Hungarian) by the Berlin-based French-Hungarian composer Matthias Kadar. Danny de Graan also wrote a new composition for Carrillo harp and Carrillo piano together for this occasion, which poetically depicts the alienation of values and standards in our current times. In addition, compositions from the individual repertoire of these exceptional microtonal instruments will be played, including Despacio by Julián Carrillo for 96-tone harp and the soothing Kaiho written by the renowned Finnish composer Juhani Nuorvala for the 96-tone piano. Tickets

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

Programme

Danny de Graan (1973) - 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)

Veinberg/Stoop - Improvisation on a theme of Julián Carrillo's Preludio a Colon

Juhani Nuorvala (1961) - Kaiho (2017)

Matthias Kadar (1977) - Hangszon (2018)

The 31-tone hyperorgan | 16.30 - 17.15 hours (free entrance)

Since its renovation and modernisation in 2008/2009, the 31-tone organ by Adriaan Fokker has been regarded as one of the first 'hyper-organs' in the world. This means that the organ can be controlled by computers because the operating system is equipped with MIDI-in and MIDI-out; a language between the computer and a musical instrument.
Over the past 15 years, many works have been composed by various composers for the Fokker organ controlled by a laptop. A cross-section of these pieces will be heard during this free concert. They are very different compositions in which the organ produces spectacular sounds, sometimes at speeds that an organist would never be able to perform in this way.

Programme

Danny de Graan (1973) - Forma (2009)

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)

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

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

The Pleasance of Disorientation | 20.15 - 21.45 hours

The Hallucinating Harmonists is a new, incomparable group of eight musicians and a composer. With their specially adapted and rebuilt musical instruments, it is possible to play in a different tuning instantly. The effect of this technique, among other things, is that listeners can start to doubt their own musical logic and at the same time experience an extraordinary sound. The group puts the audience on the wrong track in a refined, but pleasant way by disorienting them with previously unheard harmonic progressions, contrary rhythms and tempo modulations. The way in which listeners can become pleasantly disoriented, by merely disrupting their musical expectations, is an intriguing phenomenon and the group therefore likes to play on this fact in an inventive and original way.
The performance of The Hallucinating Harmonists consists of a series of diverse compositions by founder Sander Germanus that are based on idiosyncratic musical principles, with harmonies that can sound disorienting and surprisingly pleasant at the same time. Each piece is made in a completely different musical style (yet in the same idiom!) with influences from jazz, contemporary, classical, fusion, ambient and avant-garde pop music. Add to that the excellent musicians and a unique experience is guaranteed! Tickets

Programme

Werken van Sander Germanus (1972):

- Vertigo

- Stretch Your Ear!

- Jetties

- Rock My Hammerfest

- Bending Spoon

- Launch

- Dizzy

- Amsterdam Trip

Tickets

Single concerts are 17,50 euros, a passe-partout consists of a 20% discount on stacked tickets by ordering 3 MicroFest concerts. >>>

Reduction tickets (Stadspas, CJP) for single concerts are 12,50 euros. Tickets can be reserved at the box office of the Muziekgebouw (tel. +31 20 7882000).

Tip: restaurants in the neighborhood

There are several restaurants in the neighborhood of the Small Hall to eat lunch or have diner, like the grand café 4'33, on the ground floor of in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. At the Oosterdokskade in the public library (OBA) there are two restaurants, Babel on the top floor and Vapiano on the ground floor.

Financial support

This concert is made possible by the support of:

Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Gilles Hondius Foundation, Amsterdam Community (District East) and Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ.

Also the SNS REAAL Fonds (renovation Fokker organ) and the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ.

A donation of the Nederlands Akoestisch Genootschap and a shared contribution of six reputable consultancy offices, namely Cauberg-Huygen, DGMR, LBP|SIGHT, M+P, Peutz and Wijnia-Noorman-Partners (WNP) made it possible for Huygens-Fokker to purchase the Carrillo piano.