Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ is a concert hall for contemporary classical music

Contemporary classical music

Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...

 on the IJ

IJ (bay)

The IJ is a river, formerly a bay, in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is known for being Amsterdam's waterfront. The name derives from the generic Germanic term for "water" and is similar to other Aa/Ee names for bodies of water. In Dutch, the name consists of the digraph ij, which is...

 in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. The building opened in 2005 and is located above the IJtunnel

IJtunnel

The IJtunnel, opened on 30 October 1968, is an automobile tunnel under the IJ that connects the centre of Amsterdam with Amsterdam-Noord. The tunnel is part of a route across Amsterdam that connects the Ringweg North with the Ringweg South near Duivendrecht, via Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg,...

, a ten-minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal station.
The building was designed by Danish architects 3XN

3XN

3XN is a Danish architectural practice with head office in Copenhagen.-History:The company was founded in Århus in 1986 as Nielsen, Nielsen & Nielsen by Kim Herforth Nielsen, Lars Frank Nielsen og Hans Peter Svendler Nielsen. The latter left the company, which is today led by a partner group of...

. The Bimhuis

Bimhuis

The Bimhuis is a concert hall for jazz and improvised music in Amsterdam.With an average of 150 performances a year the Bimhuis is the main stage for these musical genres in the Netherlands....

 is part of and partly integrated in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ.

The first director was Jan Wolff (2005-2008); Tino Haenen has been artistic director since June 2008. Haenen was previously director of the Belgian contemporary music festival Ars Musica

Ars musica

Founded in 1989, Ars Musica is an annual contemporary music international festival that takes place in Brussels during several weeks, usually in March. Nowadays, Ars musica is one of the biggest world festival for contemporary music...

.

Architecture prizes

The building has received several prizes:

• Dedalo Minosse Special Prize (2006)
• Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence, category Europe (2006)
• Nederlandse Bouwprijs, categorie Gebouwen (2007)

External links

• Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (official website) Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (official website)
• Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ at Google 3D Warehouse
  Google 3D Warehouse
  The Google 3D Warehouse is an accompanying website for Google SketchUp where modelers can upload, download and share three dimensional models. The site was created on April 24, 2006....