The influential Dutch singer, founder of the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam and a major figure in historically informed performance, has died aged 79.
Dutch bass and bass-baritone Harry van der Kamp, whose career spanned more than five decades and placed him among the leading figures of the European early-music movement, has died at the age of 79.
Van der Kamp died on 17 August, according to reports that emerged on Tuesday. A cause of death has not been announced.
Known particularly for his work in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, Van der Kamp performed internationally with many of the conductors and ensembles who transformed the performance of early music during the second half of the 20th century. His extensive discography ranged from Renaissance polyphony and Bach to opera and contemporary music.
A career at the heart of the early-music revival
Born in Kampen, the Netherlands, in 1947, Van der Kamp initially studied law and psychology before turning to music. He studied singing at Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatory with Elisabeth Cooymans and Max van Egmond, and later attended courses with Alfred Deller and Pierre Bernac.
He became one of the founding singers of Cappella Amsterdam in 1970 and joined the Nederlands Kamerkoor in 1974, remaining with the ensemble for two decades. Between 1980 and 1987 he also served as its artistic adviser, introducing new repertoire and bringing conductors including Eric Ericson, Uwe Gronostay and Tõnu Kaljuste to the ensemble.
As a soloist, Van der Kamp established an international career closely connected with the historically informed performance movement. He worked with conductors including Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen, Ton Koopman, John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, William Christie and Sigiswald Kuijken, and appeared with ensembles including the Hilliard Ensemble and Les Arts Florissants.
His repertoire extended well beyond early music. Van der Kamp appeared in more than 30 operatic roles and performed music ranging from Mozart and Verdi to works by 20th-century and contemporary composers.
The Gesualdo Consort and a landmark Sweelinck project
In 1984, Van der Kamp founded the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam, an ensemble devoted particularly to vocal music of the 16th and 17th centuries while also exploring later repertoire.
One of his most ambitious achievements came through his lifelong advocacy for the music of Dutch composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.
Van der Kamp and the Gesualdo Consort undertook Het Sweelinck Monument, a monumental project devoted to recording Sweelinck’s complete vocal works. The project became an important contribution to the rediscovery and dissemination of the composer’s vocal output and received major recognition in the Netherlands.
In October 2010, during a ceremony at Amsterdam’s Oude Kerk attended by Queen Beatrix, Van der Kamp was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.
His recordings and projects received numerous distinctions over the course of his career, including Edison, Echo and Diapason d’Or recognition, while his work also received Grammy recognition.
Singer, teacher and advocate
Alongside his performing career, Van der Kamp devoted a substantial part of his life to teaching. In 1994 he was appointed professor of singing at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen, where he later became professor emeritus. He also taught masterclasses and served on competition juries.
Yet his most enduring legacy may lie in the connection he created between scholarship and performance. Through his singing, recordings and work with the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam, Van der Kamp helped bring centuries-old vocal repertoire to new audiences while participating directly in the movement that reshaped how Renaissance and Baroque music was performed and understood.
His work on Sweelinck in particular remains a significant part of that legacy, documenting a body of music closely linked to Dutch musical history and bringing it renewed international attention.
Subscribe to our newsletter