Micha Hamel

Micha Hamel (Amsterdam, 1970) took private lessons in composition and orchestral conducting beginning in 1986 with Huub Kerstens. Additionally he attended masterclasses given by Morton Feldman and John Cage. In 1994 he graduated from the Royal Conservatory, majoring in composition (under the tutelage of Diderik Wagenaar and Konrad Boehmer) and orchestral conducting (under Ed Spanjaard and Jac van Steen). Thereafter he participated  in the composition class at the Tanglewood Music Center (USA), where Hamel studied with Mario Davidovsky and Louis Andriessen.
Micha Hamel has received various awards as both composer and conductor. In 1994 he was awarded the incentive prize by the Amsterdam Arts Fund for his composition ‘Fructus’, written for Percussion Group Den Haag and the Mondriaan Quartet, and in 1999 Hamel received both the Elizabeth Everts Prize for talented musicians and the ‘Kersjes van de Groenekan’ Scholarship, which afforded him the opportunity to travel, and to study with Mark Elder.
Micha Hamel’s unique qualities as composer and conductor were brought together in October 2000 for the ‘Festival in de Branding’ in The Hague. During a week of concerts, the majority of his oeuvre was performed by ensembles including the Nieuw Ensemble, the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
He performed with almost all dutch orchestras and ensembles as well as with the Netherlands Chamber Choir, whilst carefully broadening his horizons towards the romantic and classical repertoire. He conducted the ‘Radio Filharmonisch Orkest’ and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra in several editions of the Holland Festival, the Netherlands Music Days as well as in the illustrious concert series at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam named VARA-matinee.