Neoclassical Suite is a column that will present 7 recent, distinctive tracks of the neoclassical-modern classical-contemporary -and beyond!- music field. 

The Players

Mikael Oterhals

(neoclassical)

Mikael Oterhals is a 23 year old pianist and composer located in Stockholm, Sweden. He was born in the Swedish city of Uppsala on December 28, 1996. His musical interest started as a child when his parents bought him a small keyboard as a Christmas gift. 
 His piano playing got more serious when he grew up and he studied several years of classical music, jazz music and composition. These experiences combined with working for many different clients, both as a pianist and a composer, resulted in creating his own music mostly in the classical genre but with influence from many other styles. On June 19, 2020 he released his first EP “The End of the Beginning” containing four piano pieces written and performed by himself.

Prof. Lacasse

(neoclassical, waltz)

Serge Lacasse (aka Prof. Lacasse) has been a professional producer, arranger, songwriter and musician for many years in the Canadian music industry, including mixing and mastering engineer (see table below). In addition to having accumulated a nice catalogue of instrumental and vocal pieces of music (e.g. for museum exhibitions, advertising, etc.), he has collaborated as producer/songwriter/musician with artists signed to majors and national labels in Canada (Mitsou, Lynda Lemay, Tanya Tagaq, Descars, Héra Ménard, Nathalie Gauthier, Paule-Andrée Cassidy, etc.).

Following his success with his remix of La Bolduc’s “Ça va venir découragez-vous pas”, he recently produced two albums of piano music by Quebec artist Marc-André Pépin, including Tempus fugit nominated for “Best Instrumental album of the Year” at the 2018 ADISQ Gala. Similarly, Héra Ménard’s eponym album, also produced by Lacasse, was acclaimed as “Discovery of the Year” and nominated in the “Singer-songwriter” category at the Gala Country 2018. As his artist name suggests, Prof. Lacasse is also professor of musicology at the Faculté de musique, Université Laval in Quebec City.

Prof. Lacasse is a multi-instrumentalist: not only does he play the piano, but he is also an accomplished drummer and guitarist. He has been writing piano music since his early teens but only recently decided to propose it to the world. His first album, entitled Piano Evocations, features 13 intimate pieces exploring a variety of emotions in the post-classical style.

Maria Grönlund

(neoclassical)

Playing the piano is how I relax, sort my thoughts, console myself, have fun and celebrate the beauty of life. I’m a pianist and neoclassical composer from Stockholm, Sweden.

My influences are Òlafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, Joep Beving and Poppy Ackroyd as well as Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and a dash of Swedish folk music.

Jesse Koolhaas

Myrthe van de Weetering

(neoclassical, contemporary music)

Jesse Koolhaas is an Amsterdam based producer who just released his second album Click Me on Urban Waves Records. https://soundcloud.com/jesse-koolhaas

Myrthe ‘Mimi’ van de Weetering (The Netherlands) started playing violin at the age of five. The first couple of years she refused to read sheet music and insisted on writing her own music. She also didn’t feel like committing to her own instrument exclusively which is why she was often found playing her mother’s piano or her sister’s cello instead, preferably butt naked. After finishing a bachelor’s degree in Music Production and a Masters in Composition nothing really changed. She still composes her own music and plays it by heart, and still switches between playing violin, singing and some bass playing. The only difference is that what once was considered as rebelliousness and labeled undesirable is now – quite to the contrary – admired by some as autonomous creativity and artistry. And of course, she replaced her birthday suit with something more widely accepted.

Jacco Wynia

(neoclassical)

Jacco Wynia – Composer/Pianist – born April 17th, 1989, the Netherlands. Jacco wants to share the powerful effect he perceives in his music, wishing that more people can find joy, hope and peace through it. After doing a range of big performances, Jacco found out that for him playing in an intimate setting was the most touching experience. He realized this when playing a lay-down-concert for elderly people in later stages of dementia. The response was so intense and the atmosphere was one of connecting with each other in both tears and laughter, being freed by the power of music. This inspired to go more and more for an intimate sound and to create settings to connect with the listeners. This way of making music a personal communication medium is how Jacco wishes to continue and grow. So that more people experience the sheer joy of the music, and this connection with the listener will inspire the music in return. Inspiration comes from friendships, nature, challenges, love.

Justus Rümenapp

(neoclassical)

Justus Rümenapp is a german neoclassical Pianist and Film Music Composer. He started studying popular music at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg 2011 and won several classical competitions. He is known for his sensitive and atmospherical way of playing the piano. The melodies let the listeners forget their worries and their everyday life…

Rümenapp also composes Film Music for international award winning Films.

Steve Barakatt

(neoclassical, cinematic)

For more than three decades, award-winning composer, pianist, music producer and creative director Steve Barakatt has collaborated with leading artists, record labels, studios, brands, and organizations on hundreds of projects around the globe. As a concert pianist, he has presented more than 500 live performances on five continents. His music has been featured on hundreds of TV programs & series as well as on major sports event TV broadcasts such as the FIFA World Cup and the F1 Grand Prix. As a recording artist, he has sold over five million albums worldwide and his music catalogue reached 100,000,000 views on YouTube.

He had artistic collaborations with Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Yaroslavl philharmonic Orchestra, Lahti Sinfonia, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre métropolitain, Radio Nacional de Espana, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, El Sistema, Angelique Kidjo, Natasha St-Pier, Nana Mouskouri, Maxim Vengerov, The Alexandrov Choir, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Nic Raine, Yoav Talmi, Christian Vásquez, Yiruma, Richard O’Neill, Shirley Bassey, Leon Lai, Alan Tam, Kelly Chen, Daniel Chan, Agnes Chan, Sincere, Yoko Oginome, Miri Ben-Ari, Noriko Sakai, Audrey De Montigny, Sun Min, Wheesung, John Park, Shayne, Chen of EXO, Lee Dong Woo, Yesung of Superjunior, Sunny of Girls’ Generation, Luna of fx, Wendy & Seulgi of Red Velvet, Taeil & Doyoung of NCT127, Universal Music Publishing, Sony Music Entertainment, SM Entertainment, Yamaha, Roland Corp, Japan Central Music and many more…

The Music

Christos Doukakis