ABOUT US

WELCOME AT OUR WEBSITE

We began our duo in 1999 and have been performing as the Amsterdams Gitaar en Mandoline Duo since then. We have released several cds together as a duo.

We were born and raised in Amsterdam, but the heart of our musical development blossomed primarily in Wuppertal, Germany. This city has been a creative hotbed in the middle of the Bergisches Land for many years because of the talented young musicians from all over the world who come there to study. It has been rewarding and inspiring to collaborate with so many of these musicians over the years.

We feel very much at home playing in a variety of musical styles including pop and rock, bluegrass, folk, light jazz or classical. As long as the piece of music has beautiful melodies and moves us we might try it. We also have many original compositions and perform on a variety of electric and acoustic instruments.

We love the intimate feeling of small concert venues. This loose, informal connection with the audience and we regularly present concerts and workshops at our home base of Baumstrasse 14 in Wuppertal. We have also performed in many countries throughout the world including Russia, Japan, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and the United State and have made wonderful connections in all of these places.

You can purchase our CDs and sheet music scores through our own label ‘Wouldn’t Listen’. For a musical showcase we refer to our latest production Family Life: a double album with 26 songs and pieces for mandolin and guitar.

Taranta di Garda (M & MA Wiesenekker)

Marijke Wiesenekker Plays the mandolin – classical, electric, baroque and acoustic. She is a graduate from the Music Conservatory of Cologne, Germany where she studied with prof. Marga Wilden Hüsgen. In the United States, she has been to the Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz a few times along with her brother Michiel. Besides performing as a mandolinist, Marijke is also the conductor of “Mandolinen-Orchester Hüls 1922 e.V.” and Bottrop-Kirchhellen and is regularly invited as a guest teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerpen.

Michiel Wiesenekker is a master guitarist in a variety of musical styles on both acoustic and electric guitar. He and was born in Amsterdam and studied classical guitar at the Music Conservatory of Cologne, Germany (Wuppertal) with prof. Dieter Kreidler and prof. Sergei Ramirez and electric guitar with Peter Fischer. Michiel is currently teaching at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Düsseldorf.