Bergsma Views

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Bergsma's music is noted for its lyrical, contrapuntal qualities. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bergsma rejected serialism in favor of a more conservative style, though one distinctly rooted in the 20th century. He eschewed the avant-garde—his obituary in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer describes him as having never deserted tonality and seeing dozens of his former avant-garde colleagues returning to the fold —though he did embrace aleatoric techniques later in his career.

He composed two operas, The Wife of Martin Guerre (1956) and The Murder of Comrade Sharik (1973), which are markedly different in style. The first is a somber tale of a 16th century French peasant's disappearance and return upon which he is suspected to be an impostor; the music is marked by dissonance which emphasizes the tension in the story, particularly in the final courtroom scene. The second is more lighthearted and comic; Bergsma wrote his own libretto after the story Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov, which involves a dog transforming into a citizen of 1920s Moscow as a result of a doctor's experiments. The partially-aleatoric orchestral writing is intended to be the voice of Stalin, and quotes from Carmen, La traviata and Don Giovanni for comedic effect. He was also a skillful composer of smaller works, including many chamber ensembles and solo piano pieces as well as orchestral writings.

04 January 2011 EXTON, Pa. g– Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced that it has appointed Gus Bergsma as vice president of Bentley ’s newly formed regional sales organization (RSO) comprising inside sales, sales engineers, and Bentley Channel Partners serving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide. The RSO is a critical component in meeting the demands of Bentleyt’s continued regional expansion and growth opportunities. It complements Bentley.’s field sales organization that serves large national and international accounts, including 87 percent of the ENR Top 500 Design Firms.

Bergsma, who previously was VP of Bentleyi’s water and structural products sales organizations, is responsible in his new role for bringing together all of the teams that make up the RSO. In addition, he will lead the expansion of Bentleyt’s Channel Partner Program to include specialty-product partners in both mature and developing markets.