Friso Heidinga

Background

About Friso Heidinga

At the age of 19 Friso had already developed a love affair for the saxophone, helping out weekends in a saxophone repair shop. In his twenties he was sidetracked by a career in science, working on a PhD in neurobiology. But after a while he couldn’t silence his passion for the sax. Amsterdam Winds was born in 2002. At first selling and repairing a broad range of wind instruments, Amsterdam Winds quickly built a name for itself as a workshop for sax aficionados. Friso became an internationally acclaimed saxophone repairman. In 2009 a new adventure began when he started research on the construction of his own saxophone. This resulted in the Free Wind alto saxophone played by Candy Dulfer and Will Vinson. Although Amsterdam Winds is no longer a regular saxophone shop, Friso now focuses primarily on making saxophone necks. Aside from making necks, Friso is working on a new tenor saxophone that he is completely building by himself including the tools and machinery needed for production. During the research and development process of the tenor Friso worked with some of his favorite musicians amongst others Joshua Redman. A new alto model is also planned.