Aart Strootman

Dutch composer, electric guitarist, microtonalist and instrument maker (b. 31 August 1987, Oud-Beijerland). Aart Strootman is an artistic director of F.C. Jongbloed contemporary music ensemble and founder of TEMKO band. Since 2009, he has taught music history, advanced ear training, analysis, and performance studies at Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (FHK) in Tilburg. Strootman is a Ph.D. candidate at Leiden University's ACPA (Academy of Creative and Performing Arts), with his research focused on "redefining the electric guitar limitations." He received various professional accolades, including the Gaudeamus Foundation award in 2017 and the most prestigious compositional prize in the Netherlands, the Matthijs Vermeulenprijs (2019). Aart Strootman studied classical guitar and composition at Conservatorium Maastricht-Hogeschool Zuyd and attended Utrecht University between 2009 and 2012, graduating with his Master of Arts degree in Musicology and Ethnomusicology. In 2014, he received a Nieuwe maker grant from the Dutch Fund of Performing Arts, attending masterclasses in composition with Nik Bärtsch in Zurich, Switzerland. Strootman is well-known as an instrument builder and constructed a few Harry Partch (1901—1974) instruments for Scordatura Ensemble's "Amsterdam Partch Project." In 2017, he completed Diamond Marimba (1946), a physical manifestation of Partch 11-limit tonality diamond; it has 29 distinct pitches, each a member of at least two tonalities. Scordatura used this Diamond Marimba on the "Rose Petal Jam" tour in 2017, with 15+ concerts across the Netherlands and abroad. In September 2020, Aart Strootman built Bass Marimba (1950) for the group's ongoing "Tonality Flux" tour, with the project funded by Scordatura Ensemble via a Kickstarter campaign that raised over €4,000. As a solo guitarist, Strootman has a prolific stage career and has played with numerous distinguished ensembles and orchestras, including Britten Sinfonia, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Dissonart Ensemble, Ensemble Klang, Storioni Trio, Slagwerkgroep Den Haag, Bang On A Can, Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, and Sandbox Percussion. He collaborated with Nora Fischer, Ramon Lormans, Jacqueline Hamelink, Jane Chapman, Vincent van Amsterdam and played with many more iconic composers and musicians as a core member of s t a r g a z e ensemble: Laura Mvula, John Cale, Terry Riley, Bill Frisell, Philippe Jaroussky, Shara Worden, Nils Frahm, etc. In April 2022, Strootman presented a new composition for Diamond Marimba and custom-tuned tubular bells on the opening night of the Royal Conservatory's 55th Spring Festival in Hague.