Donemus Webshop — Marinissen, Arnold

Arnold Marinissen about his work: ‘For me, creating music is all about immersing. Warmth and pulse are words that come to mind when I try to describe my music. Voice and text are important; I like to follow the route that a text lays out for me, to deal with breath, diction, nuances of intonation, and I’m intrigued by the personality of each individual voice.’
With his background in percussion he also likes to write for this multi-coloured family of instruments. But he equally gladly dedicates himself to strings, winds and keyboards, electro-acoustic music and music for dance and film.
His works were performed by, amongst others, Residence Orchestra string trio, Asko|Schoenberg Ensemble, Storioni Trio, Slagwerk Den Haag, Silbersee, Calefax Reed Quintet, Ensemble SCALA, Ensemble Variances (France), Maat Saxophone Quartet, Asko Kamerkoor, Pinquins Percussion Trio, Prisma Strijktrio, and performers such as Katharina Gross (cello), Helena Rasker (voice), Michel Marang (clarinet), Goska Isphording (harpsichord), Ernestine Stoop (harp), Claire Edwardes (percussion), Tatiana Koleva (percussion), Raymond Honing (flute). He created work for choreographer/dancer Ederson Rodrigues Xavier, for the Dutch cinema film Bernard, and for an audio visual installation by the Italian artist Pierluigi Pompei.
His vocal quintet Von Pferden, Gräsern, Sonnen, Menschen was nominated for the Toonzetters Best Dutch Work of 2012 Prize. It was performed by VOCAALLAB in the Holland Festival 2012, and by EXAUDI in the UK. His work has been performed throughout the Netherlands, in the Biennale di Venezia, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the PASIC and Zeltsman Marimba Festival (USA), Sao Paolo (Brazil), Taipei (Taiwan), Zagreb (Croatia) and Wellington (New Zealand), amongst others.
His music also sounded in the Dutch cinema film Bernard and in dance productions by Club Guy & Roni, Korzo Productions and Scapino Ballet; it was broadcast by the BBC and in The Netherlands.
Awards: Royal Conservatoire, Graduation Prize for the Best Exam of the Year
Connected to the institution since 2007, Arnold Marinissen is Head of Composition, Classical Voice and Master research at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
Record label BVHaast released three solo CDs by Marinissen, Traces of Cultures, Layered Rhythms and Percussionist Songs. The press about these CDs: "The infectious delight Marinissen brings to performances of contemporary music", "percussionist extraordinaire Arnold Marinissen ...”, “A wonderful collection of stimulating solo percussion performances."
Marinissen has performed extensively as a solo percussionist and in chamber music. He was artist in residence at De Doelen in Rotterdam, guest at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam and at festivals all over Europe, in Boston, Shanghai, London, Russia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Uzbekistan.
He appeared as a soloist with the Residentie Orchestra, Noordhollands Philharmonisch Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Holland Symfonia, Nieuw Ensemble, WDR Orchestra in Cologne, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Southern Sinfonia (New Zealand).
Between 2017 an 2021, Marinissen conducted a research around the composition of concert music in the Digital Workstation environment at Bournemouth University (UK), under the supervision of Professor Stephen Deutsch and Dr. Ambrose Seddon. He obtained his PhD in 2022.
The research project resulted in a portfolio of compositions and a contextual document, the subject of which is the Digital Audio Workstation as a human computer interface for the composition of concert music, intended for live performance.
The portfolio of compositions consists of the music notation and audio recordings of five works, composed by the researcher within the context of the research project: Variances for jazz guitar, piano, percussion and indeterminate ensemble; Rapprochement for microtonal ensemble; Transits for bass flute, eight voices and electronics; Shutterspeed for clarinet and soundtrack; and Fossils for piano and live electronics. For each of the works, a distinct DAW-based concept and compositional approach has been developed and employed.
The contextual document investigates the implications of the DAW for the composition of concert music, and discusses the five portfolio compositions against the background of practices of selected composers; the history and development of the analogue studio, early computer and DAW composition; aspects of device interaction; and the topic of 'liveness'.
Education: Bournemouth University (UK), PhD obtained in 2022; Royal Conservatoire The Hague (Netherlands), graduated Cum Laude in 1991.