Guus Janssen

(Heiloo, NL 1951) is a composer, pianist an harpsichordist. He studied at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatory. Janssen attempts to find the relationship between classical music and jazz and has a predilection for improvisation. His compositions were performed by the ASKO Ensemble, the Mondriaankwartet, the Nieuw Ensemble, the Radio Kamerorkest, the Concertgebouw Orkest and the Ebony Band. As a pianist and harpsidorchist he performed in numerous formations, performing with John Zorn and Gidon Kremer, among others. Since the early 1980s he has conducted his own ensembles, ranging from (piano)trio to orchestra. In the 1980s he was recipient of the Boy Edgar Prize for his jazz and improvised music and the Matthijs Vermeulen Prize for his compositions. In 2008 his Verstelwerk, performed the Riverside Orchestra, received tumultuous applause in Carnegie Hall, New York. In that same year Janssen was composer in residence with the Brabants Orkest and released a solo piano cd: Out of frame. With Friso Haverkamp he wrote four operas.