The Radio Television of Serbia Big Band, with conductor Eric Van Lier, will take its listeners on a unique musical journey on November 30 in the Belgrade Youth Center, starting at 8:00 p.m. This evening will be dedicated to trombonist, composer, arranger, and bandleader Peter Herbolzheimer, with whom the RTS Big Band performed in 2004 and 2007. From his rich musical treasury, the RTS Big Band with Erik Van Leer will perform a part of the repertoire. The most important part of Herbolchheimer’s career was related to the big band that formed “Rhythm Combination and Brass”. He wrote countless compositions and arrangements for that band, which today are an integral part of the repertoire of the best professional big bands in the world. Some of the most important jazz musicians who were part of this band were Stan Getz, Nat Adderley, Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Toots Tielemans, and many others.

Erik Van Lier started his professional career as a trombonist in the Danish Radio Big Band The Skymasters. As a representative of Denmark, he performed three times at jazz seminars under the organization EBU. He performed with jazz trombonists such as Slide Hampton, Ake Persson, Urbie Green, Kai Winding, Frank Rosolino, and many others.

In 1974, he received a scholarship from the Danish government to study with George Roberts. During that period, he also studied with Phil Teele, Roberta Faulisea and Ed Kleinhammer from the “Chicago Symphony Orchestra”.

ErikVan Lier played bass trombone in the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, the Slide Hampton-Joe Haider Band, the Mel Lewis-Joe Haider Band, Thad Jones’ Ball of Fire, and Peter Herbolzheimer’s Big Band.

Together with his brother, also a well-known trombonist, Bart Van Lier, he collaborated at seminars and workshops of the “International Trombone Association” in Nashville (USA) in 1987, Eaton in 1989, and Utrecht (Netherlands) in 2000.

At the largest jazz department in Europe at the Amsterdam Conservatory, until September 2019, he taught bass trombone, and big band for more than 40 years.

The RTS Big Band, the only professional Serbian Jazz ensemble, was established in 1948 in the form of a Big Band. It was quickly recognised as a group of performers with excellent interpretational abilities, with its prominent conductors, composers and arrangers that have been guiding it ever since. Some of them are: Mladen Bobi Guteša, Vojislav Bubiša Simić, Zvonimir Skerl, Duško Gojković, Stjepko Gut.

The ensemble has performed with some of the world’s greatest jazz artists, such as: Clark Terry, Benny Golson, Johnny Griffin, Maynard Ferguson, Tony Scott, Jerome Richardson, Ernie Wilkins, Alvin Queen, Reggie Johnson, Eddie Henderson, Hank Mobley, Philly Joe Jones, Jon Hendricks, Roy Hargrove, Brad Leali, Ack van Rooyen, Peter Herbolzheimer, Ed Thigpen, Sal Nistico, Nathan Davis, Don Byas, Lee Konitz, Don Menza, Steve Turre, Ronnie Cuber, Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Chuck Findley, Bobby Shew, Heinz von Hermann, Vic Vogel, Karlheinz Miklin, Adrian Mears, Peter King, Ilja Reijngoud, Bert Joris, Gregory Hutchinson, Jens Winther, Jesse Davis, John Fedchock, Klaus Raible, Andrea Tofanelli, Simon Rigter, Samuel Blaser, Omar Sosa, Nils Wogram, John Marshall, as well as with the stars of worldwide show business, such as: Ray Charles, Danny Kaye, Josephine Baker, Diane Schuur, Mireille Mathieu, Enrico Macias, Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Abba), and others.

The orchestra has yielded some of the best, world famous and renowned solo performers, such as: Mile Pavlović, Bora Roković, Duško Gojković, Lala Kovačev, and Stjepko Gut.
As a relevant representative of the Serbian jazz scene, the RTS Big Band has held concerts all around Serbia, and has participated in leading domestic jazz festivals, such as: the Belgrade Jazz Festival, the Novi Sad Jazz Festival, the Valjevo Jazz Festival, the Nišville Jazz and Blues Festival, the Pančevo Jazz Festival, and the International Jazz and Blues festival in Šabac. It has performed in a number of prominent world festivals, in Tel Aviv, Montreux, Marseille, Thessaloniki, Munich, Stara Zagora, Ingolstadt and Neuburg, as well as at the concerts organized by UNICEF in Belgrade, Paris and Geneva. He is a recipient of Sretenjski orden of third order for special services to the Republic of Serbia and its citizens in public and cultural activities.

In the orchestra’s discography, the most notable studio albums are: The Jazz Orchestra of Radio Belgrade 1948-1978, The Music of my Youth, Stjepko Gut and the RTS Big Band Afro-Balkan Sketches, Willy Johans and the Big Band of Radio Belgrade – 75 years of Radio Belgrade, Karavan, It’s Time for Jazz, Sweet Love, Duško Gojković and the RTS Big Band Latin Haze, Balkan Soul, RTS Big Band and Samuel Blaser Aquarelle and Mimo od Budve.

Today, the RTS Big Band is a modern orchestra that realises successful concert seasons by performing with the most eminent contemporary foreign and domestic performers. In its performing oeuvre, it nourishes the tradition of jazz music by successfully meeting the requirements and interpretations of the modern Big Band music of the 21st century. A special place in the ensemble’s repertoire belongs to the cultivation of jazz music, inspired by the domestic musical heritage, which significantly contributes to the preservation and public promotion of the national cultural tradition, presented with a new sound. Depending on the requirements of the programme and the concert, the RTS Big Band also performs as a revue orchestra, along with the members of different RTS Music Production ensembles, thus expanding the repertoire with popular compositions of various genres.

This concert will be realized as part of the program-business cooperation between RTS Music Production and Belgrade Youth Center.

Tickets at the price of RSD 1200 can be purchased at the DOB ticket office and via
https://tickets.efinity.rs/event_info/big_erikvanlier_31361