LOOS and composed music

LOOS has a long tradition in creating, producing and performing contemporary composed music with mainly, almost entirely a repertoire of compositions written especially for and premiered by LOOS and or the LOOS Ensemble, 1992-2008. With its specific sound aesthetics, style of performing and conceptual approach to music, especially the LOOS Ensemble is, and has been recognised internationally as a stylistic representant of the so called “The Hague School”. 


A few quotes:  “hardedge jazz”  “hard, bot, streng” “hardcore variant legendarische hoketus”


“LOOS collects harsh, bleak and austere music, centring on the score and the adventure of free improvisation. Sharp contrasts are the main thing: loud versus soft, silence versus sound. The silences in particular have an exasperating charge. The music offers an intriguing voyage of discovery through desolate landscapes with harsh, blunt and at first possibly unpleasant sounds. But there are also moments of moving beauty and intense enjoyment. Fragmented sounds, unravelled harmonies provide details that each form a wonderful and complete world of its own.”


During the first structural subsidy of the Dutch Ministry for OCW, the activities of LOOS were divided into:

  • LOOS Foundation

  • LOOS Ensemble - LOOS Ensemble (composition & improvisation, live electronics, live visuals)

  • LOOS Electronics - Erax (free electronic music + visuals)

  • LOOS Winds - TUMB quartet (compositions, live electronics)

  • Studio LOOS - conceptual space for extended experiments f.i. Pdq^d

  • LOOS Projects - festivals, manifestations


Line ups of different LOOS groups in the past

LOOS Ensemble - Peter van Bergen (saxophones, clarinets, electronics) Huib Emmer (electric guitar, live electronics), Gerard Bouwhuis (grand piano, kurzweil) , Patricio Wang (electric guitar and bass-guitar), Paul Koek | Johan Faber (drums, percussion, marimba, vibes) and in special programs Dennis Rudge (voice and acting), Petra Dolleman (live visuals), Jannie Pranger (voice), Leo van Oostrom (saxophone), Jan Bas Bollen (electric bass guitar), Anne LaBerge (flute, live electronics)

TUMB Quartet - Leo van Oostrom, Peter van Bergen, David Kweksilber, Michiel van Dijk ( tutti saxophones)

E-Rax - Gert-Jan Prins, Thomas Lehn, Peter van Bergen (all live electronics) & Petra Dolleman (live visuals)

Pdq^d - Petra Dolleman (live visuals) & Peter van Bergen (interactive saxophones)

LOOS Extended - LOOS Ensemble + Holz für Europa (Wolfgang Fuchs (DE), Hans Koch (CH), Peter Van Bergen)

LOOS Multitimbral Orchestra - LOOS Ensemble + TUMB quartet

LOOS 1982 - Willem Jansen (drums), Jan den Boer (electric bassguitar), Peter van Bergen (tenorsaxophone)

LOOS 1983 - Franklin Ardin (SUR), Willem Jansen (drums), Jan den Boer (electric bassguitar), Peter van Bergen (tenorsaxophone)

LOOS 1984 - Jan Willem van der Ham (alto saxophone), Franklin Ardin (SUR), Willem Jansen (drums), Jan den Boer (electric bassguitar), Peter van Bergen (tenorsaxophone)

Compositions for the LOOS Ensemble and the TUMB Quartet have always been written in close collaboration with the performers of the ensembles.

Composers that wrote for the LOOS Ensemble 

Peter Adriaansz, Maarten Altena, Louis Andriessen, Richard Barrett, Peter van Bergen, Gilius van Bergeijk, Florentijn Boddendijk, Jan Bas Bollen, Cornelis de Bondt, Gerard Brophy (AUS), Eric de Clercq, David Dramm, Martin van Duynhoven, Huib Emmer, Guy Harries (UK), Edwin van der Heide, Luc Houtkamp, Guus Janssen, Yannis Kyriakides, Anne LaBerge, Misha Mengelberg, Qasim Naqvi (USA), Rüdiger Meyer (SA), Elliott Sharp (USA), Paul Termos, Patricio Wang, 


Composers that wrote for LOOS Winds “TUMB” Saxophone Quartet

Christian Banasik (DE), Cornelis de Bondt, Huib Emmer, Guus Janssen, Roberto Morales Manzanares (MEX), Bart Visman, Gao Wei-ji (CHN)