The Rosa Ensemble was established in 1997 in Utrecht, Netherlands, and initially focused exclusively on contemporary classical music. However, it soon broadened its scope, welcoming musicians from various backgrounds and creating music theater performances in collaboration with actors, videomakers, opera singers, free improvisors, set designers, stand up comedians, and a plethora of other creatives. 

Throughout their extensive history of hits and misses, pinning them down to a single musical identity has been difficult. However, a spirit of experimentation and boundary-pushing has become integral to the ensemble's essence. 

Their latest release, "Oddments," features music composed for a new quintet that brings together notable musicians from both the Dutch contemporary music scene and the realms of jazz and improvisation. 

Compositions by Floris van Bergeijk, Jeroen Kimman, and Wilbert Bulsink are performed. 

Koen Kaptijn - trombone 
Mei-Yi Lee - percussion 
John Dikeman - tenor, bass and soprano saxophone 
Jeroen Kimman - electric guitar and 19tet baritone guitar 
Peter Jessen - double bass 

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John Dikeman [soprano, tenor and bass saxophone] is an American saxophonist currently residing in Amsterdam. Drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources, John’s playing runs the gamut of improvised music and technique. He is currently active as a member of numerous groups including Cactus Truck; Universal Indians often featuring Joe McPhee; the trio Dikeman, Parker, Drake with William Parker and Hamid Drake, Mofaya, and numerous other collaborations including projects with Luke Stewart, Luis Vicente, Jaimie Branch, Steve Noble, Sun-Mi Hong and Marta Warelis. 

Koen Kaptijn [trombone] is truly Holland’s contemporary music trombone mastodon; he has played with every important ensemble and has been involved in close to a thousand (!) world premieres. Next to all that he is known for his absurdist performance qualities in many a music theatre production. Lastly he is an in-demand sound-designer, tinkering with a personal setup of very noisy electronics. 

Mei Yi Lee [percussion] is a virtuoso percussionist/music performer with over 15 years experience collaborating in different fields of arts such as music theater, dance, contemporary music and multimedia art. Passionate about being involved in interdisciplinary art and delivering new experiences to audiences, as a performer she dedicates herself to experimental collaborations with directors, composers and artists from other media. 

Peter Jessen [double bass] can be heard playing (and often singing) on nearly every Rosa Ensemble’s production of the last decade and a half. He’s a versatile musician who is equally at ease in the orchestra pit as in the post-punk or folk-pop bands he plays in. 

Jeroen Kimman [electric guitar and 19tet baritone guitar] is a thoroughly unclassifiable guitarist and composer. Although his background may lie in jazz, he has been playing guitar (or pedal steel, banjo, and mandolin) in the widest range of settings, from math-rock (Brown vs Brown) to impro-country (Sleep Gunner), from playing with the major Dutch ensembles and orchestras to all sorts of dabbles with jazz, mariachi, opera, music theatre, and whatnot. As a music producer, bandleader and composer, he somehow has found a way to organically blend together all these influences under his Orquesta del Tiempo Perdido moniker. 

Floris van Bergeijk studied (and now teaches) composition in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He has worked in many different forms of the performing arts, be it music for the good ol' concert hall, theatre, film, music theatre or even opera. Under the moniker MURW Van Bergeijk produces electronic music ranging from noise to techno to more abstract and timeless works, and in his compositions for ensembles and/or orchestras Van Bergeijk is constantly searching for a way to experiment with the listening experience in new and unexpected ways. Never shunning the past and always curious about the unknown future, the musical narrative is a driving force in all of his compositions. 

Wilbert Bulsink is a composer and musician living in Amsterdam and Vienna. He writes music for a wide range of situations, varying from the classical concert hall to new constellations. He is known for an uncanny inner musical imagination, and is very uncompromising in a need for experimentation, stretching the limits of form and sound. He teaches music at the conservatory of Zwolle, The Netherlands. 

Oddments press release