Hanumi saxophone quartet members have all been students of Johan van der Linden in Enschede, the Netherlands. In addition the members have studied in New Zealand, Germany and France, including Massey and Victoria Universities in New Zealand, and the Conservatoire National de Region de Strasbourg.

Within a year of its inception, Hanumi was placed 3rd in the national concours for saxophone quartets, organised by Selmer Paris and has since gone on to expand the saxophone quartet horizon by including other instruments and media in concerts, e.g. piano, voice, percussion and choir. The quartet has been featured in numerous festivals including the ‘Roomnacht’ (formerly ‘museumnacht’) and ‘Grenswerk’ festivals and on Dutch television, with percussionist Ruud Roelofsen and oboist Bart Schneemannn during the Middleburg Chamber Music Festival.

The quartet has an emphasis on performing new music, regularly performing premieres, and music by living composers. Hanumi has recently commissioned top young New Zealand composer Dylan Lardelli to write a new work for the ensemble.

Simon Brew

Simon gained his Honours degree (1st class) from Massey University. He has been a contract player for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philhamonia and performed  throughout New Zealand with chamber ensembles Saxcess and Tango Virtuosi including tours for Chamber Music NZ. Simon was formerly principal saxophone for the Central Band of the RNZAF.

Awards include best saxophonist under 30 at the International Festival of Single Reeds in Melbourne (2005), 3rd place in the National Concerto Competition (2003), best New Zealand wind player at the Gisborne International Music Competitions (2003) and first prize in the 2010 Grachtenfestival Conservatorium Concours with pianist Andrey Nesterenko.

As a promising conductor he worked as assistent for the Wellington Youth Sinfonietta under Michael Vinten. He came to study with Johan van der Linden with scholarships from AMP, Creative NZ and Denis Adam Foundation.

Harmke Seinen

Harmke began her studies on saxophone at the age of 8 with Hans Rikhof in Ommen. She has since completed her Bachelor of Music at Enschede conservatorium with Johan van der Linden, as well as undertaking 3 months study at the Conservatoire National de Region Strasbourg, France, with Philippe Geiss. As saxophonist she has performed with the main Youth wind orchestras of the Netherlands and in 2006 performed at the World Saxophone Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with Michael Jamieson. Harmke currently teaches at the muziekschool Borne,  as well as Orchestra societies in Ommen and Westerhaar.

At 16 years of age, Harmke was a soloist with the percussion ensemble “Soli Deo Gloria” Ommen which was awarded first place at the World Music Contest, Kerkrade.

Michael Jamieson

Michael studied at Victoria and Massey Universities/NZSM (finishing with first-class honours) and received the prestigious Patricia Pratt Scholarship, and Creative NZ funding, enabling him to study at the Messiaen Academie with Johan van der Linden and the CNR Strasbourg with Philippe Geiss.

Michael performs regularly in the Netherlands with various groups including the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Radio Chamber Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orkest Van Het Oosten and with percussionist Ruud Roelofsen, among others.

Michael  is a composer and arranger and toured Canada as a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir. He is an accomplished painter and plays Great Highland Bagpipes in the Concord Pipeband.

Lukas Stappenbeck

Lukas was born in 1990 and started saxophone playing aged 13 under Uwe Renting. Since 2006 he is a Vooropleiding student with Johan van der Linden at the ArtEZ conservatoire in Enschede. In the year 2007 he received a second prize at the “Bundeswettbewerb Jugend musiziert” together with pianist Bernhard Dumoulin. He won a first prize (Bundessieger) in the year 2009 in the category saxophone solo wich gave him a full scholarship for the summeracademy at the “Hochschule für Musik Detmold”.