About
Dutch composer Arend Gerds has written original music for a variety of ensembles and wind bands. As a composer he shows affinity with both contemporary composing techniques and more traditional writing styles, both of which recur in a blended form in his own sound idiom and music. He currently works as an autonomous composer, conductor and teacher.
Background
From 2007 to 2013 Arend Gerds (Groningen, November 4, 1987) studied at the ArtEZ Conservatory with Alex Manassen (NL) and Montclair State University (USA) with V.J. Manzo, Robert Aldridge, and Ting Ho where he obtained a bachelor's and master's degree in composition. During his master's degree, he specialized in music technology and programming audio software using the program Max Msp. This resulted in the master thesis Maximized and the program 'Spectrum': a program which generates music on the basis of probability.
Composer
As a composer, Arend Gerds shows an affinity for both contemporary composing techniques and traditional styles of writing, both of which are found in a blended form in his own sound idiom and work. Recently, he has written compositions for NEW MUSIC NOW Files, the Golden Spiker festival, Stichting Ivak, the Northern Netherlands Saxophone Quartet, Gronings Vuur, the KNMO, and various wind orchestras. His music was also part of competitions and festivals, including the "Open Dutch Fanfare Championships" and the "Gouden Spiker" festival. Gerds' music for wind band is published through his own label arendgerds.net and is available through arendgerds.net and AM Music in Lippenhuizen. All other works are published by Donemus.
Teacher / Conductor
He currently works as an autonomous composer, conductor and teacher, including at the ArtEZ Conservatory, where he teaches music theory.
