Niels Bijl

Niels Bijl studied with Arno Bornkamp and Johan van der Linden at the Conservatorium in Enschede, graduating in 1998 as recipient of the Dagblad Tubantia Soloist Prize as well as the Kunstkring Meester-Gezel Prize. He has been very active in chamber music for the last 15 years, in saxophone quartets and in unique ensembles such as duo's with pianist Hans-Erik Dijkstra, accordionist Gertie Bruin, recorder player Ronald Moelker and The Four Baritones.

His premiere performance as a soloist was in the Enschede Muziekcentrum in 1999, performing Frank Martin's Ballade for Tenor saxophone and Orchestra. Since May 2000 he has been a member of the world famous Aurelia Saxophone Quartet. As well as this Niels Bijl regularly performs with all of the professional orchestras of The Netherlands, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as with other internationally renowned orchestras such as Anima Eterna. Recently he was invited to play in the 2007 tour of Sir Georg Solti’s/Valery Gergiev’s World Orchestra for Peace. Through all of these activities Niels Bijl has had the opportunity to give concerts and masterclasses over practically all of Europe, as well as Japan, Australia, Canada and America. Niels Bijl teaches exclusively at the Music School in Hengelo.