Stef Tuinstra

Stef Tuinstra (born May 4, 1954 in Groningen ) is a Dutch organist , organ expert and author.

Life

Stef Tuinstra grew up in a musical family. His father was an orchestral musician from Friesland, his mother an amateur singer, his brother Luuk played the trombone in radio orchestras for years. Stef Tuinstra took piano lessons at the age of six, trombone lessons at nine and organ lessons from the age of fourteen.

Tuinstra studied organ with Wim van Beek (1930–2017) at the Prins Claus Conservatory in Groningen and completed his master's degree “cum laude”. The minor subjects were piano and trombone; he also received harpsichord lessons . Tuinstra studied with Gustav Leonhardt and deepened his skills in master classes with Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini , Ton Koopman and Harald Vogel . By Klaas Bolt he was introduced as organ expert. In 1978 he passed his diploma in choral conducting and church music. A year later he won the Prix D'Exellence and in 1980 the chorale prize at the National Improvisation Competition in Bolsward and in 1986 the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges .

As an organ expert, Tuinstra works with the Protestant Church in the Netherlands and the “Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed”. He has accompanied more than 140 new organs and restoration projects, including Arp Schnitger's organ in Mensingeweer and his organ in the Aa-Kerk .

Since 1973 he has been cantor organist in Zeerijp. Tuinstra founded the Musica Retorica chamber choir in 1978 , which he directed until 1993. In 1992 he founded the North Dutch Organ Academy, which he has directed ever since. In the same year he became organist at the Nieuwe Kerk in Groningen with their classical organ by Johannes Wilhelmus Timpe (1831). Since 2017 he has shared the position of organist at the Martinikerk with Sietze de Vries , which Wim van Beek had previously held for 60 years. There is one of the most famous baroque organs in Northern Europe , which was given its decisive shape in 1692 by Arp Schnitger.

Stef Tuinstra regularly gives concerts, which he enriches with improvisations in various styles from the Renaissance to the modern. His master classes take place in Europe, Japan and the USA. Two of his CD recordings have been awarded the Edison Prize. The recording of Georg Böhm's complete works for organ and harpsichord plays a special role . Tuinstra is a representative of historical performance practice , in which the rhetoric and the emotional content of the works determine the interpretation. On the basis of continuo playing with improvisational elements, an orchestral organ is aimed for.

Tuinstra lives in Bedum , not far from Groningen, and has two daughters. His daughter Gerdine Tuinstra studied singing at the Prins Claus Conservatorium and occasionally performs as a soprano with her father.

Fonts (selection)

• Attempt to reconstruct Bach's pedal technique. In: Music and Worship. Vol. 68, 2014, ISSN  1015-6798 , pp. 173-180 ( part 1 ); 69th vol., 2015, pp. 15–29 ( part 2 )
• Georg Böhm , Booklet for the complete CD recording, 2011 (PDF file; 7.2 MB)
• Arp Schnitger - searching for the authentic sound . In: Basler Jahrbuch für historical Musikpraxis . tape 22/1998 . Amadeus Verlag, Winterthur 1999, p. 157-178 .
• On water rivers Babylon - Johann Adam Reincken - Een Noord-Duitse Koraalfantasie as "Orgel oratorium". In: Het Orgel . 94, No. 2, 1998, pp. 6-14.
• Schnitger, European organ builder van verleden en heden. In: Het Orgel. 94, No. 4, 1998, 34-42.
• Marten Eertman, organ maker op de grens tussen art en kitsch. In: Groninger Kerken. Vol. 13, No. 2, June 1996, pp. 52-54 ( online ).
• Groningen, Province of organs. In: The Organ Yearbook. 25, 1995, pp. 49-100.
• with Harald Vogel , Reinhard Ruge: Guide to the organs of the Ems-Dollart region . 2nd Edition. Rautenberg, Leer 1992.
• Twee Schnitgerorgels gerehabiliteerd . In: Het Orgel. 85, April 1989, pp. 170-184.
• Het Schnitger-Wenthinorgel te Weener (East Friesland) . In: Het Orgel . Volume 81, No. 1 , 1985, pp. 292-299 .

Discography

• Georg Boehm: Keyboard Works. 3 CDs. NNOA. 2011 (organs in Hamburg / Jacobi and Midwolda as well as harpsichord).
• Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: The complete keyboard works. 9 CDs. 1999–2001 (various interpreters).
• Bach in Midwolda: Stef Tuinstra spatters on the Hinsz organ. NNOA. 2000 (BWV 541, 562, 593, 646, 647, 659–661, 680, 768)
• Northern Dutch organ art. CD Coronata, COR 1217 (organ in Zeerijp, with Harry Geraerts , tenor).
• The North German art of the organ choir of the 17th century. 2 CD. NNOA. 1991 (Organ in Norden, works by S. Scheidt, F. Tunder, D. Strunck, JA Reincken and D. Buxtehude).
• Organ history in Groningen. 3 CDs. Syncoop 5751 CD 114.1990 (various artists)
• Arp Schnitger in Groningen . Lindenberg LBCD15. 1990. (Organ in Groningen / Aa-kerk: works by F. Tunder, V. Lübeck, J. Pachelbel, JS Bach, K. Bolt; Bernard Winsemius: works by JN Hanff, V. Lübeck, JS Bach).
• Arp Schnitger in Groningen . Lindenberg LBCD12. 1989. (Organ in Eenum: works by Anonymus, G. Böhm, J. Pachelbel, JA Reincken, M. Weckmann, JS Bach; Harald Vogel in Godlinze: works by GF Handel, J. Mattheson, JS Bach).

Web links

• Vita on the website of the North Dutch Organ Academy
• Portrait at the Reformatorisch Dagblad on December 23, 2017: Organist Stef Tuinstra puts zijn oor te luisteren bij zangers (Dutch)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Portrait at the Reformatorisch Dagblad on December 23, 2017: Organist Stef Tuinstra puts zijn oor te luisteren bij zangers (Dutch), accessed on July 25, 2018.
2. ↑ Vita on the website of the North Dutch Organ Academy , accessed on July 5, 2018.
3. ↑ Musica Retorica website , accessed on July 25, 2018.
4. ^ Reformatorisch Dagblad of June 16, 2017: Martinikerk Groningen krijgt twee kerkorganisten (Dutch), accessed on July 25, 2018.
5. ↑ Review of the recording of Georg Böhm's works by Christo Lelie in Trouw on March 20, 2012: Tuinstra improviseert overtuigend in Klavierwerken Böhm (Dutch), accessed on July 25, 2018.
6. ↑ Concert announcement with Viten , accessed on July 25, 2018.