Born in 1965, Marco Blaauw studied at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam, later continuing his studies with Pierre Thibaud and Markus Stockhausen. “I first heard New Music on television as a child. I saw how people in the audience covered their ears with their hands. That was exactly what I wanted – for people to make an effort and be surprised at what they are hearing.”
Why this instrument? At first, a practical decision: “I grew up in a village. There was a band there, and it needed a trumpet player.” Then one of his life’s goals: “I always had a picture in my head of a troubadour spreading the latest news. That’s what I want to do too – with my trumpet.” And: “The trumpet has been neglected in many regards. I see this as my appointed task – to develop the technique of the trumpet and to interest composers in the instrument.”
The results up to now: Works by Richard Ayres, Martijn Padding, Gijsbrecht Roye, Isabel Mundry, Peter Eötvös and others, written for and suggested by Marco Blaauw; intensive collaboration with Karlheinz Stockhausen; many performances as soloist; Marco Blaauw is member of Ensemble Musikfabrik.