Rembrandt Frerichs

Projects
Written By Leontien van der Vliet

REMBRANDT FRERICHS

composer at the piano

Interartists represents pianist and composer Rembrandt Frerichs in developing innovative collaborations with orchestras and ensembles internationally. Together, we aim to create projects that are artistically distinctive, historically grounded, and highly engaging for contemporary audiences.

Contact:
E: leontien.vandervliet@interartists.nl
T: +31 6 52468707

 

A central focus of our collaboration with Rembrandt Frerichs is the reintroduction of improvisation into classical performance practice. Historically, composers such as Mozart and Beethoven performed their own works with a strong improvisational element, particularly in solo passages. Rembrandt Frerichs builds on this tradition, bringing spontaneity and creative freedom back into the concert hall in a way that resonates with modern audiences.

We propose programs in which the composer appears as soloist at the keyboard, shaping the performance from within. This format continues a long-standing tradition of composer-performers—from Bach and Mozart to Rachmaninoff and Gershwin—and has proven to be both musically compelling and highly accessible for audiences today. Rembrandt Frerichs developed his piano concertos 1, 2 and 3 in collaboration with musicians associated with leading orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Residentie Orchestra. These works can be tailored to different ensemble sizes and contexts.

We are particularly interested in working closely with orchestras to develop new projects. This may include commissioning new repertoire, involving principal players as soloists, or exploring alternative keyboard instruments and formats. Each collaboration is shaped in dialogue with the artistic identity and ambitions of the ensemble.

About Rembrandt Frerichs

Rembrandt literally grew up in his father music shop, south of Rotterdam. Since a kid, he’s been playing piano (his main instrument) and organ, had trumpet and drum lessons and also picked up some acoustic bass. After highschool in the Netherlands he spent a couple years in the Middle East, aged 17 to 19 years old.

To focus completely on the piano, he went to study at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and was offered a scholarship to study for some time in New York City. He’s been based in The Hague ever since his studies at the conservatory.

His journey into composing began with encouragement from his colleagues, who frequently requested more of his music for their concerts. Grateful for their support, he promised to bring new pieces to their performances—a commitment that drove him to further develop his skills as a composer. (Watch this concert at the Concertgebouw by Liza Ferschtman). This pivotal encouragement inspired him to expand his work for a variety of ensembles. Today, his focus on composing has grown to the point where he also often steps back from the stage, dedicating himself to creating music for others to perform.

Website
Website

Highlights

September 2026

Release of the new CD with works Rembrandt wrote for the New European Ensemble

20 June 2026

Dag van de Componist/Day of the Composer - New European Ensemble x Rembrandt

25 September 2026

De Muze van Zuid, Amsterdam - Alma Quartet x Vinsent Planjer x Rembrandt PIANO CONCERTO

05 November 2026

Cello Biennale Amsterdam - World Premiere Cello-Violin double concerto. Daniel Rowland, Maja Bogdanovic & PHION orchestra

Reviews

“Both the eight-movement First Piano Concerto and the shorter, four-movement Second Piano Concerto unfold as a series of chameleonic rhapsodies. In any given movement, one encounters Baroque echoes, a fragmented tango and variations on a jazz ballad. Unpredictable, and yet every turn sounds smooth and effortless.
Frerichs constantly presents the strings with new themes or challenges them with angular rhythms. At times they go along with it, at others they shyly withdraw. Or everyone goes their own way in a stylistic fusion of late Romantic melancholy and jazzy cheerfulness. And all of this is performed with immense flair and finesse.”
— Volkskrant, Jenny Camilleri
“The First Piano Concerto immediately demonstrates just how well the musicians of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra handle Frerichs’s freedom of interpretation. Members of the Alma Quartet, TV personality and double bassist Dominic Seldis, as well as percussionist Vincent Planjer, provide the pianist with the perfect musical response. Frerichs has since admitted that, for his own standards, he has paid
exceptionally close attention to elaboration and detail in his two piano concertos.”
— De Gelderlander, Maarten-Jan Dongelmans
“Frerichs therefore asks something quite different of the musicians. ‘Bring out the tango within yourselves,’ he says invitingly to the five string players at one point. Recording director Brendon Heinst is thrilled by this. ‘Every time Rembrandt gives a cue, something special happens. He talks about feeling, not technique. Just listen to what’s coming out of the musicians now.’
These piano concertos generally sound inviting, colourful and rich in contrast, ranging from sunny to mysterious. ‘That Bartók-like passage flows into a Tchaikovsky-like vibe,’ Frerichs explains at one point. Van Biemen: ‘Rembrandt is like a flypaper, one of those sticky strips. He incorporates everything he comes across into his style.’
For cellist Clément Peigné, the freedom that Frerichs takes and grants was initially paralysing. “I’d sometimes ask: ‘What does this note mean here?’, but then Rembrandt would reply: ‘I don’t know exactly. Just change it if that works better. We’ve played it five times now and he does it differently at every concert. To be able to understand him, we first had to rehearse a lot. Now we can physically sense when we need to come in. We’re also getting better at playing in a jazzy style rather than very precisely. We’re now trying to make that tango section sound really funky.’
Admiration for all his knowledge Peigné has great admiration for Frerichs. ‘His knowledge and capabilities at the piano are impressive. Building up so much knowledge about harmony”
— Trouw, Sandra Kooke
Leontien van der Vliet
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