Niels van Heertum
Niels Van Heertum started playing the euphonium at the age of eight. With a background in both classical and jazz music, Niels continued on the path of jazz euphonium at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where he studied with John Ruocco and Kris Defoort, among others.
He attended masterclasses and private lessons with Sergio Carolino, Chris Speed, Brian Bowman, Ellery Eskelin and Samuel Blaser. In 2010 he formed the band Ifa y Xango together with six fellow musicians.
The band won the prestigious Gent Jazz Contest 2011 and performed at the Gent Jazz Festival in 2012. Their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Abraham’ was selected as ‘best debut of the year’ by the New York City Jazz Magazine.
His regular bands and projects include Veder, Linus, Book of Air, MikMâäk, Chantal Acda and Lynn Cassiers’ Imaginary Band. In 2017 he released his first solo record, co-released by granvat and Smeraldina-Rima. In the same year, Niels and two partners started a record label for adventurous music called Aspen Edities. The young label released his quartet Veder’s debut album ‘evergreen’. In 2018 Niels won the Sabam Jazz Award for Young Talent. Since 2015 he has been working with choreographer and theatre director Alain Platel, touring in over 30 countries including South Africa, Brazil, Canada, Australia and many more.
Over the years Niels has collaborated with Bill Frisell, Jakob Bro, Billy Hart, Shahzad Ismaily, Ernst Reijseger, Christian Wallumrød, Fabrizio Cassol, Eric Boeren, Jozef Dumoulin, Eric Thielemans, Lander Gyselinck, Joachim Badenhorst, Fulco Ottervanger, Teun Verbruggen, Nils Økland, Ingar Zach, Eivind Lønning and Arno Bakker, among others.
Requiem pour L.
Theatrical music production by Fabrizio Cassol and Alain Platel (Les Ballets C de la B). 140 performances in 2018-2020, worldwide (Europe, South Africa, China, USA, Canada)
Artist in Residence
Cultural Centre De Warande, Turnhout, season 2018-2019
Sabam Jazz Award 2018
Award for Young Talent, presented at the Gent Jazz Festival by Minister of Culture Sven Gatz. The jury highlighted his pioneering work as a euphonium player, a lesser-known instrument within jazz and improvisation.
Aspen Edities
Founding and directing a new label for adventurous music with four releases in the 2017-2018 season.
Veder
Leadership and compositions for Veder, an international quartet.
Main Guest ‘BRAND! Jazzfestival’
Three-day festival in Mechelen (kc nona).
Solo
Recording and production of an album. Series of solo concerts in Belgium, the Netherlands and Brazil.
En avant, Marche!
Dance and theatre production by Alain Platel (NTGent, Les Ballets C de la B). 150 performances in 2015-2017, worldwide (Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada), each time in collaboration with local wind orchestras.
