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Frido ter Beek

Dutch saxophonist and composer who lives in Buenos Aires

About Me

Frido ter Beek (De Bilt, 1961) is a Dutch musician who lives in Buenos Aires. He studied classical saxophone at the Conservatory of Utrecht with Ed Bogaard, Andre Hemmers and Iwan Roth and took masterclasses with Daniel Deffayet, Francois Daneels and Jean Marie Londeix. In 1987 he graduated as a teacher and one year later as a performing artist. In 1991 Frido started to study jazz with Ferdinand Povel at the former Hilversum Conservatory (now Conservatory of Amsterdam) where he graduated in 1993. In 2015 he moved from Utrecht to Buenos Aires but continues to participate in various projects in the Netherlands (the Koh-I-Noor Saxophone Quartet, Film Orchestra The Sprockets and Silent Live).

In Buenos Aires, Frido formed a jazz quartet (in 2017 el Club de Disco released his first cd entitled 'Entonces que?'), participated in the Roseti Project (also in 2017 the album 'Deshacer' came out) and has played the saxophone in the Julian Solarz Grupo, the Sophie Lüssi Quintet, 'Monk Etc.', Cuarteto de saxofones 4Mil, Marcelo Gallo Orquesta and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Buenos Aires.

He has played with well known Buenos Aires based musicians like Alvaro Torres, Ernesto Snajer, Mariano Loiacono and with Jazz orchestras such as the CCK Big Orchestra. He 2018 and 2019 he performed as a soloist at the international BA Jazz festival.

Frido teaches at the Jazz department of the EMPA (Escuela de música popular de Avellaneda), the Conservatorio Superior de Música Manuel de Falla and has private students in Buenos Aires and Montevideo and gives workshops and masterclasses.

In The Netherlands Frido has played with several artists, theater companies and orchestras, including the Orchestra de Volharding, Ensemble Klang, Clazz Ensemble, the Ereprijs, Dutch Jazz Orchestra, Independance, the Paardenkathedraal, Speeltheater Gent, Toneelschap B & D, Tamar, Jeugdtheatergroep Sonnevanck Harry Sacksioni, Stef Bos, Patrick Rugebregt Quartet, New Standard Trio, One Armed Octopus, Simply Jazz and the Charli Green Big Band. He conducted three Big Bands and participated as a teacher of saxophone in various educational institutions and social projects.

Composition has been getting more and more important over the years.

Frido wrote several works for the Koh-I-Noor saxophone quartet, Cuarteto de saxofones 4Mil, the Sirius Saxophone Quartet, Clazz Ensemble, Duo Cabezaz-Bavio (marimba and saxophone/flute), Duo Imaginaire (clarinet and harp), Duo Beumer-Ham (piano and saxophone), Company Canton Cuypers (saxophone and harp) and Reed quintet Torre 7. His latest saxophone quartet was premiered by the cuarteto de saxofones 4Mil on the international Alasax festival in Montevideo in 2019.

He also has written music for Cinema. In 2012 he composed some musical parts for the film ”Nema aviona za Zagreb” (Louis van Gasteren).

In the same year he composed two scores for the silent movies “The Cure” (Charlie Chaplin, 1917) and “Tabu” (Friedrich Murnau, 1931) for the Sprockets and symphony orchestra (commissioned by the Arka Symphony Orchestra). This music made Frido finalist in the composers contest of the Rimusicazioni Film Festival 2016 (Bolzano, Italy).

In 2017 Frido wrote the music for a documentary film from 1928 about the Olympic wintergames in St. Moritz (Arnold Frank), which has been released on dvd and blu-ray by Criterion.

In 2019 Frido wrote a score for the silent movie “Eine tolle Nacht”(Richard Oswald, 1926). Concerts took place in Germany and Belgium in 2019. The project was also recorded and broadcasted by Arte TV.

During the pandemic he composed a score for the silent film “Stagestruck” (Allan Dwan, 1925). Concerts took place in Berlin in 2021. His score for the silent movie “Moral” (Willi Wolff, 1928) was premiered in October 2022 in Berlin at the opening night of the Ellen Richter Retrospective.

A new score for the silent movie “The Unholy Three” (Tod Browning, 1925) has been written and recorded (broadcast will take place in 2024 on Arte TV) Frido's compositions can not be pigeonholed in one style, he uses a variety of sources and influences and creates his own musical language.

Frido recorded four albums as a soloist: 'Ahuila Maguilé' (2003), Entonces que? (2017), 'Cuentos de lo profundo' (2020) and 'Urban Tales of Loneliness and Despair' (2022).

My Jazz Story

Music is a part of my life and soul. I don't really know what life would be without it.