DUO Kirsti & Eva
Viool & contrabas
In de Oosterkerk:
Biografie
DUO Kirsti & Eva is an ensemble consisting of violinist Kirsti Apajalahti and double bass player Eva Euwe. Kirsti and Eva studied together at Utrecht Conservatory where they soon realized that they both shared passion for early music and historically informed performance practice as well as modern and contemporary music.
Even while getting deeper and deeper into the enthralling world of early music Eva and Kirsti knew that they wanted to continue performing recently composed music using modern instruments and extended techniques.
The combination of violin and double bass is a duo capable of two extremes; the violin’s crystalline higher register, and the rich, deep lower register of the double bass.
Performing music composed for this combination allows Eva and Kirsti to fulfill another shared pursuit; playing rarely performed works.
The repertoire of DUO Kirsti & Eva comprises of works composed in the baroque era, until music written in recent decades. This includes both original compositions and arrangements for double bass and violin.
Kirsti Apajalahti
De Finse violiste Kirsti Apajalahti studeerde eerst modern viool bij Silja-Raitio Heikinheimo aan Metropolia Universiteit in Helsinki, waar ze haar bachelordiploma behaalde. Daarna zette zij haar studie voort bij Eeva Koskinen aan het Utrechts Conservatorium, waar zij ook lessen met barokviool en later ook barokaltviool nam bij Antoinette Lohmann. De oude muziek bleek zo goed bij haar te passen dat ze besloot zich hierin te specialiseren en in augustus 2017 heeft ze haar masterdiploma in barokviool behaald.
Kirsti speelt regelmatig bij gerenommeerde (barok)ensembles in binnen- en buitenland zoals De Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, Holland Baroque, Millenium Orchestra, Espoon Barokki en Concerto Barocco. Kirsti speelt ook heel veel kamermuziek met verschillende groepen. Zij won de eerste prijs in Fontys-De Toonzaal Chamber Music Competition in mei 2014 met Hombra String Quartet en in 2016 heeft zij in hetzelfde concurs de publieksprijs ontvangen met haar barokensemble KirstiConsort.
Naast barokmuziek heeft Kirsti een passie voor hedendaagse muziek en werkt zij daarom graag samen met componisten.
Zij geniet enorm ook om lesgeven en zij geeft vioolles aan de muziekschool Klank en Kunst.
Eva Euwe
I studied historical bass with Margaret Urquhart and received my Master’s degree in historical bass and violone in June 2018. In the same year, I started performing with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as part of their Experience Scheme, which has resulted in regular performances with them as a substitute player. Other early music ensembles I play with are the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, Música Temprana and the Bremer Barockorchester.
I was born (1988) and raised in Amsterdam and started violin lessons at the age of 6. I had the privilege to attend a high school one block away from the Concertgebouw so I regularly attended concerts there as a teenager. My interest in the double bass started in my youth orchestra and at the age of 16, I switched from the first violins to the basses, where I felt much more in the right place. Nevertheless, I thought a musical career wouldn’t suit me since I was also interested in social and political studies, so I decided to study law at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. I was very lucky to meet Ying Lai Green, bassist from the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom I had lessons for 4 years. Thanks to her support and encouragement, I not only got accepted for double bass studies but I also finished my bachelor’s degree in law.
During my studies in classical double bass with Quirijn van Regteren Altena (Utrecht Conservatory), I have received amazing lessons in historically informed performance practice from cellist Viola de Hoog, violinist Antoinette Lohmann and bassist and gambist Joshua Cheatham. I love the combination of delivering strong emotional expressions and intellectual, historical knowledge.
Next, to my growing career as a historical bassist, I love performing repertoire from the 20th and 21st century as well. In the last two years, I received masterclasses from world-class bassists such as Joel Quarrington, Jeff Bradetich and Edicson Ruiz. Together with violinist Kirsti Apajalathi, I made and performed a duo program called ‘Baroque Violin Meets Double Bass’, in which we focus on 20th-century repertoire for violin and double bass.
I am also a member of two young early music ensembles:
Ensemble La Favorita, which made a kick start in summer 2017 in the early music festivals in Brugge, Utrecht Fringe and IYAP Antwerp.
Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, with which we recently won the Hofkapelle Preis for 2019 in the International ‘Gebrüder Graun’ Competition in Germany.
The modern double bass I play is a Gagliano model built by Harry Jansen in 2008, borrowed from the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation. Thanks to a donation from the Stichting Eigen Muziekinstrument, I could purchase a double bass from around 1890 to use for historical performances. In addition to these basses, I use several bows to have a different kind of sound for the different kinds of repertoire I play. Some of them are copies of original bows from the baroque and classical era.