Mark Boonstra

Biography

Mark Boontra (1975) studied at the conservatory of Rotterdam. By the teachers George Wiegel and Ben van Dijk an ideal learning climate was created to develop yourself. Weekly ensemble playing and classroom correpitor with the entire trombone class. Several international masterclasses were organized and other experts were invited regularly. This resulted in the perfect and above all a strong trombone class, in which competition and collegiality went hand in hand. After the necessary work experience in almost all ensembles and orchestras in the Netherlands, he was hired at the Philharmonie Zuid-Nederland in 2002, located in Eindhoven and Maastricht. He is also a member of The New Trombone Collective and the David Kweksilber BigBand. An ideal artistic mix to challenge and develop yourself as a performer. In the field of education he finds the biggest challenge nowadays. Creating an ideal learning climate for all ages is his mission. As mr. pBone he travels all over the country to give music workshops and he learns thousands of children a year how to play trombone and above all, he gives them the experience of how special it is to be able to make music together. Dutch trombone talents are connected in the Young Trombone Collective. At Codarts Conservatory Rotterdam he teaches Music Education, where evolution of music education is central. As professor at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Tilburg, he tries to offer his students the same as he himself is offered. A wide range of knowledge, freedom to orientate yourself more broadly, and working within an ensemble on the many competences that we have to deal with as musicians nowadays.