Composer

The term «butterfly effect» is emblematic of the realization that in nature everything is connected to everything else and that the smallest interventions in a natural balance can trigger major effects. It is no different in art. In this program, the Junior Ballett, which embodies the dance of the future, explores the «Butterfly Effect». In addition to ballet director Cathy Marston, two representatives of a new generation of choreographers, Lucas Valente and Ihsan Rustem, created pieces for the Junior Ballet.

The Butterfly Effect

Zurich Opera House

Meet our 2026 Fellows at their first public performance, featuring an engaging and eclectic range of music for small ensemble.

Meet the Fellows

St James' Church, Sydney

The Belgian National Orchestra celebrates rhythms and percussion. Gershwin's only opera, Porgy and Bess , distills the essence of jazz and contains timeless tunes like Summertime . With Body Language (2012), Julia Wolfe highlights Colin Currie's physical and musical talent, transforming his body into a veritable instrument to fuse the sounds of urban folk music with those of the orchestra. Andriessen's Tapdance (2013), also written for Currie, magnifies the sound of tap dancing and the memory of big bands. As for Arvo Pärt's Fratres , characteristic of the Estonian composer's ethereal and meditative style, it offers a suspended moment imbued with spirituality.

Porgy & Bess

Philharmonic Hall of Liege

EPSG:4326

Matinée des Jeunes Etoiles III – Metamorphosis

Gstaad Chapel

Bergkirche Abländschen

Louis Andriessen was a maverick, provocateur, and the uncompromising godfather of European minimalism. In the 1970s and '80s, he shattered the boundaries between classical, jazz, and rock with a fiercely political edge and a defiantly amplified sound. Rejecting the lush traditions of the past, he championed stripped-back textures, pounding rhythms, and an ensemble of brass, electric guitars, and saxophones, more garage band than orchestra. Andriessen didn’t just compose; he confronted.

Danceworks

State Theatre Centre of WA

A post-minimalist jukebox celebrating the legacy of Louis Andriessen, whose propulsive, genre-crossing music profoundly transformed the global music scene and influenced generations of composers. Enjoy the bright, pop-driven sound of Michael Torke, the subtle dramatic turbulence of Andriessen’s Dances, the quirky individuality of Martijn Padding and Steve Martland’s swaggering muscularity.

Underground Series: Danceworks

Distinguished by its virtuosity, probing musical insight, and impassioned, fiery performances, the Ariel Quartet has garnered critical praise worldwide for more than twenty years. Formed when the members were just teenagers studying at the Jerusalem Academy Middle School of Music and Dance in Israel, the Ariel was named a recipient of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, granted by Chamber Music America in recognition of artistic achievement and career support. Celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2023, the quartet serves as the Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. The quartet recently played to a sold-out Carnegie Hall audience and premiered a new work by Danill Trifonov with the composer as pianist.

Ariel Quartet

Christ the King Catholic Church

Contemporary chamber music performed by the ensemble of the Contemporary Performance Program at MSM.

Tactus

Manhattan School of Music

Daring, sultry, and playfully evocative, flutist and composer Valerie Coleman’s musical memoir, Portraits of Josephine, captures the irreverent spirit and joie de vivre of one of the 20th century’s most charismatic entertainers, Josephine Baker. Ensemble 20/21 presents this electrifying suite for wind quintet, featuring three significant moments throughout Baker’s life. From her humble beginnings in St. Louis to creating a multiracial utopia within the majestic walls of her 15th-century château, Les Milandes, and causing a splash on the 1920s Parisian club scene, this captivating portrait chronicles her triumphant rise to international stardom.

Summer Broadcast Series: Music of Change

Princeton Second-Year Graduate Student composers—Hope Littwin, Soo Yeon Lyuh, Christian Quiñones, and Justin Wright—present new works written in response to the works of established composers as part of their PhD General Examinations.

Princeton Sound Kitchen: Generals Concert

Taplin Auditorium

Guest ensemble Hinge presents the premiere of their program Clockworks, which explores themes of mechanization and dehumanization in contemporary society and features works by Chaya Czernowin, Katherine Young, Louis Andriessen, Laurie Spiegel, and Meshuggah.

Hinge Ensemble: Clockworks

Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Music of Change

Curtis Institute of Music

Life (2009) was the first piece Louis Andriessen composed specifically for his friends in the Bang in a Can All-Stars. According to the composer, “[Artist Marijke van Warmerdam and I] decided to make a kind of contemporary Pictures at an Exhibition: short pieces of music to accompany video clips. This resulted in Life—four short compositions which combine late romantic ‘European’ music with hip ‘American’ repetitive music.”

Adams Conducts Andriessen

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Join BCMG for the culmination of our inaugural Crossing Forward International Composer Exchange. Featuring a world premiere by young Dutch composer Jasper de Bock alongside music by Tansy Davies, Louis Andriessen and Alex Paxton.

Composer

Louis Andriessen

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 22, 2026

Crossing Forward · Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

Past events

4 - 23 Apr, 2026

The Butterfly Effect · Opernhaus Zürich

Feb 21, 2026

Meet the Fellows · Sydney Symphony Orchestra

About

Louis Andriessen hasn't added a bio