You will receive this first newsletter unsolicited. If you do not like this, please do not read further and just reply with the text UNSUBSCRIBE. I am sorry for bothering you in that case.

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Why this newsletter?
The world is changing fast. Strange and brutal forces took power. The biggest and richest companies in the world go down on their knees for this power. I don’t want to be part of this game. At least, I want to minimise my participation in it. That’s why I left META’s platforms Facebook and Instagram. This created the need for a newsletter to promote my activities, although I am a fairly modest person.  
However, if you like, you might find me on Mastodon and BlueSky, though I am still finding out how to create a network over there. See bottom of this newsletter for the links.

The newsletter is mainly about my activities and the blog on my website. Haven’t found my website yet? Then go to htonino.nl. I will also use my newsletter to announce concerts and to let you know that I am still alive :-)  

The frequency of my concerts or new blogs is not so high that I will often find it necessary to issue a new edition of the newsletter. It will appear at most 4 times a year. It depends on the intensity of my activities. It might also depend on your feedback which is very welcome of course. But in any case, I don't think you feel spammed by me.

— The newsletter aims to be as informative as possible. 

— I don’t like vague or long texts.

— It’s about the links to the music we or I make.

— I hope to inspire you to start listening…

— Any feedback is welcome (I said this earlier).

Quite a number of my contacts are non-Dutch speakers. Therefore, I will try to improve my English by creating this newsletter.

CONTENTS

MY NEW WEBSITE

My website htonino.nl has been around for about six months now. It is basically my portfolio of musical activities. Of course, the order per page is always from present to past. In this context, it is nice to mention that the past is not yet completed, although this sounds paradoxical. In short, my musical past pretty much seems to end in the year 2000 as of now. So there is still some work to do. I started my first flute lessons at the music school in Delft exactly 50 years ago this year, in 1975 to be precise. So I have been playing the flute for 50 years now! I started with the regular flute, in 1984 the alto flute was added, in 1993 the piccolo, much later in 2015 the bass flute and finally, exactly three years ago in 2022, the contrabass flute. It is much fun to play all these flutes.
On the website, you can find my various activities, such as improvised music, "bands", music and theatre, music and poetry, and clips with music. My interests have largely shifted from jazz-like music to completely free improvised music. I also find it exciting to make music to poems, or music to theatre. You can find what I have done in that area so far (from around 2000). You can also listen to and watch some of it.
There are also special subpages dedicated to the European Intuitive Music Conference, for which I have been active for some time as organiser of the annual gathering of improvising musicians from, mainly, Europe. Next week, the conference takes place in Rotterdam. See also below.

CURRENT MUSIC PROJECTS

I currently have three active projects: EIMC, Duo Lontano, and Pedal Kings.

EIMC stands for European Intuitive Music Conference, an annual gathering of improvisers from Europe and sometimes beyond. This year, EIMC-2025 takes place at Het Wijkpaleis in Rotterdam, 24-27 July. If you are interested you can come and listen on Friday evening 25 July and Saturday evening 26 July. See AGENDA below.

Duo Lontano consists of pianist/composer Peter Sterk and me. We focus on free improvisation with occasional touches of composition. This year we are working on our “organ project” involving the small organ in the Danish Seaman’s Church in Rotterdam. We are researching interesting playing modes and textures where flute and organ sound together. You can listen to a preview on my website.

Pedal Kings is a two-man band consisting of Ab Bol on double bass with effects (fx) and me on bass flute with fx. Although improvisation plays an important role in our music, the whole thing is organised much more like a composition. And the style is more along the lines of ambient with occasional jazzy touches. Our name was once suggested by a mutual friend because of our use of different fx pedals.

MUSIC AND POETRY
Lagewaardt/Tonino, a collaboration with poet Selma Lagewaardt, has a somewhat less frequent existence. We have collaborated regularly in recent years and want to continue to do so. The idea is to make live flute music and poems into one with an electronic soundscape as a backdrop. I will probably devote a later blog to this. To get an impression of what we do, take a look at the "Video" subpage.

BLOG NOTE — MY BLOG PAGE

My blog is a kind of Easter egg.... But this one is very easy to find in the top-left corner of my homepage. "Blog note" is a playful reference to the Dutch word “blocnote", a stack of cheap paper taped together at the top used for making quick notes or calculations. My goal is to write a blog note about every month. It consists of a music track along with a short explanation. Feel free to take a look and listen.

AGENDA

Next week participants of EIMC-2025 will improvise in different combinations:

DATE:      Friday 25 July and Saturday 26 July 2025

PLACE:    Het Wijkpaleis, Claes de Vrieselaan 72-A, Rotterdam

TIME:       20:00 hrs (doors closed at 20:30 hrs)

ENTRY:    Free of charge