Bob Zimmerman - Composer & Arranger
photography: Anne Dokter
Composer and arranger Bob Zimmerman (Amsterdam, 1948) is regarded as an icon in the Dutch music world. He wrote his first compositions at the age of seven and after his studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, he quickly made a name for himself as a composer for theater and later film. Although the LP with music composed by him for the film 'An Bloem' was awarded an Edison in 1984, his major breakthrough as a film composer is the work for Rudolf van den Berg's film 'De Avonden' from 1989. His scores support much films, such as 'For My Baby' (1997), 'Snapshots' (2002), 'Tirza' (2010) and 'Süskind' (2012).
Zimmerman also composed the music for the documentary 'Staal & Lavendel' about Cornelis Verolme (2007) and for nature films 'De Nieuwe Wildernis' (2013) and 'Holland: Nature in the Delta' (2015). As a creative director he recently supervised sixteen composers in creating a new score for the silent film classic 'The Phantom Carriage' (1921).
In addition to his work for various projects in the media, Zimmerman is one of the arrangers of the Metropole Orkest. He also regularly worked for the Royal Family, his most famous work being his arrangement of Astor Piazzolla's tango Adiós Nonino. Performed by bandoneon player Carel Kraayenhof, this arrangement elicited Máxima's now iconic tear during the wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta.
