Ties Mellema: Dramatic injury prompts slew of commissions
Tobias
Recovering from a serious injury, Dutch Saxophone player Ties Mellema has asked befriended composers to write short pieces for him only using the notes he can play. On March 12th of this year, Mellema cut his wrist in what he describes as a „very unfortunate accident“. While the damage done to one of his hand's tendons and an artery will not pose any insurmountable problems, the ulnar nerve, responsible for some essential motoric functions (such as spreading your fingers) was also severly injured. Mellema's future as a Saxophone player now depends on whether he the nerve endings will heal completely (for which there is a chance of 75% apparently) and whether the healing will mean that the old functionality will be restored. In a first move, the members of the renowned and astoundingly succesful Amstel Saxophone Quartet had to cancel all tour dates – including prestigious ones in New York, Detroit and Chicago. Mellema also started taking singing lessons and focusses on composing for the time being. Playing the Saxophone, both „in his head“ as a mental training and – carefully – for real, he realised that he would benefit greatly from music suited to his current situation. As a consequence, a slew of composers will ready pieces for left hand Saxophone and Piano over the next weeks.
Commissions have gone to Ton de Kruyf, Ian Wilson, Willem Breuker, Hans Eijsackers, Jurgen Van Loenhout, Alexander Comitas, Guillermo Lago, David Dramm and Wijnand Van Klaveren. Even though not all (or even none) of these names will mean anything to you, they are well-known in Ties Mellema's home of the Netherlands, turning this set of special pieces into a collection offering an exciting look into the Dutch contemporary music scene – and enriching the repertoire for Saxophone considerably.
It has been especially important in this regard that Ties Mellema is actually left-handed, allowing him to at least achieve a meaningful approximation of his previous skills. The reaction of the Dutch Saxophone community has been one of shock and great sympathy, with the Dutch Saxophone Forum asking for a flood of well-wishing mails – a suggestion we strongly encourage as well.
Picture by Marco Borggreve
Homepage: Ties Mellema