Roeland Duijne

During his wanderings around Europe, North and South America, and the Far East he performed as soloist and chamber musician and as leader of a number of ensembles. With this album came the chance for Roeland to fulfill his other dream: to create a blend between classical and his other great love, pop music. The artistry of Miles Davis, Sting, Stevie Wonder and Peter Gabriel has always been as important to him as the works of Boccherini, Schubert, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky. On this CD, Mellow Cello explores the crossover of pop and classical music to create a unique and arresting sound.

Dutch cellist Roeland Duijne began to play the cello at the age of nine. He studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Tibor de Machula and Anner Bijlsma, the Paris Conservatory with Maurice Gendron and at Indiana University with Janos Starker. He made his official debut in 1984 as soloist playing the Elgar Cello Concerto during a nationwide tour of Holland with the National University Orchestra. This was followed by numerous performances, many of which were televised, both at home and abroad.

He gave the world premiere of Johan de Meijï’s cello concerto Casanova, which he has since played with leading symphonic wind orchestras worldwide. He performed with the Ensemble Intercontemporain under Pierre Boulez, and toured France as a member of the Quintette de Paris. Roeland has also been principal cellist of several orchestras, including the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Several tours have taken him to the Far East; he has appeared as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Shanghai, Peking, Canton, Singapore and Bangkok, and with the pianist Rie Tanaka he has played recitals in Sapporo and Tokyo.

In delving into the crossover of classical and pop, Roeland has encountered musicians from around the world, a contact that has sparked a keen interest in seeking out and linking together the sounds of different cultures. Producer, composer, arranger Koen van Baal shares Roeland’s interest in exploring and blending different musical styles and traditions. This collaboration, together with the skilful cooperation of Ward Veenstra, gave shape to the concept of Mellow Cello.