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Gijsbert Kok, born in 1963 in Waarder, the Netherlands, obtained diplomas in organ performance in 1986, in choral conducting in 1988, and in church music in 1989 from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and a diploma from the Dutch Carillon School in Amersfoort in 1995. In 2006 he was awarded a Masters in Organ Improvisation from the Tilburg Conservatory, in 2009 a Bachelors and in 2010 a Masters in Music Theory from the Rotterdam Conservatory. He is organist at the Dome Church in De Lier, the Salvatore Church in Bodegraven, and the American Protestant Church in the Hague, and city carillonneur of Bergen, The Hague, Voorschoten, and Zoetermeer. In 1993 he won first prize at the carillon competition in Tilburg, in 1997 the second prize at the carillon competition in Groningen, and in 2002 the improvisation prize at the carillon competition in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands. He has performed at festivals and congresses in Belgium, Denmark, and Portugal and gives guest concerts throughout Europa and the USA. In 2010 he began teaching carillon at the Dutch Carillon School in Amersfoort and he also teaches at the Rotterdam Conservatory and the Schumann Academy in Utrecht.

Gijsbert Kok St. Jacobstoren, The Hague

Concert on Saturday, May 26 at 5 p.m.

Carillon Music from the 18th and 20th Centuries
Works by Crumb, Franken, van den Gheyn, and Johnson

Download program here

Lecture on Saturday, May 26 at 11 a.m.
Musical Instruments Museum Berlin, Curt-Sachs-Hall

Music for Carillon - What Should the Carillonneur Play?

Is the carillon a popular or a concert instrument? Little music and carillon compositiions remain from the period before 1900, but these and travel reports of carillon playing give an impression of what the carillon repertoire was like. The revival of the art of carillon playing starting around 1900 led to the creation of many new compositions and arrangements for the instrument which show clear stilistiic differences between those written in Belgium. the Netherlands, and North America.