Agenda
May
20
Performance Vrije Geluiden (Dutch television)
Nederland 1, 10.30 uur
Jun
03
Final of Vriendenkrans het Debuut competition
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
The classical accordion duo TOEAC consists of Renée Bekkers (1985) and Pieternel Berkers (1986). They studied at Fontys Academy of Music (Netherlands) with Ronald van Overbruggen where they both succeeded their Bachelor cum laude. Pieternel also studied ‘Teacher of Music’, and Renée did her Master with pedagogic, they succeeded cum laude as well.
Now they are studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with Geir Draugsvoll and James Crabb.
The duo has been awarded several prizes: ‘Dutch Accordion-Competition’, ‘Prinses Christina-Concours’, ‘Grand-Prix International in France, ‘Premio Internazionale di Fisarmonica in Italy’, ‘Grachtenfestival Conservatorium-Concours’ and 'Vriendenkransconcours/het Debuut'.
TOEAC played for several television programmes and radio programmes, national and international. Toeac ia also co-operating or co-operated with other artists as writers, visual artists, live-electronica composers, documentarians, dancers and actors. They worked with orchestras as ‘het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest’, ‘Orkest de Volharding’, ‘het Schönberg ensemble’, ‘het Nieuw Ensemble’, ‘het Malando Orkest’ and ‘het Rotterdams Kamerorkest’.
Pieternel and Renée are convinced that the accordion is an instrument from today and from the future, that is why they like to cooperate with composers. New compositions were written for them by B. De Murashkin, N. Whiteman, E. Caine and N. Huijbregts. Coming seasons new compositions will be written for them by N. Ioakim and N. Clark, B. Richter, J. Kamphuis and G. Beljon.
TOEAC played or will play concerts a.o. England, Germany, France, Belgium, Croatia, South-Africa, Turkey, China, Indonesië, Canada and the Netherlands. They played at several festivals (Cheltenham Festival, Festival de Saintes, Festival van Vlaanderen, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Rheingau Festival, Festival Aardklop, Kultur im Kreis etc).