My name is Emma Vondenhoff, and I was born in Rotterdam in 2008. I play the harp and the bassoon. Since April 2024, I’ve been playing a beautiful Püchner bassoon from the Musical Instrument Fund.
I started playing the bassoon when I was 11 years old. I wanted to play the bassoon because my twin sister, Roos, played it. For a whole year, she insisted that it was her instrument and that no one else in the family was allowed to play the bassoon, but then she finally let me play it too. I took my first bassoon lessons from Marije Bierling in Schiedam, who also taught Roos. After that, we were taught by Mette Laugs. In high school, we both took lessons (at the Codarts Lyceum) from Pieter Nuytten. I’m currently studying at the conservatory in Amsterdam with Lola Descours. In 2021, I participated in the bassoon competition in Maastricht, organized by the bassoon network. I placed third overall and first in my category. In 2023, Roos and I competed as a bassoon duo in the Princess Christina Competition. We won the PCC Academy Prize. I now also play in various orchestras. I started in the Rotterdam Junior Orchestra (RJO) and later also played in the Rotterdam Youth Symphony Orchestra (RJSO) and the Young Talent Orchestra (YTO). Since the winter of 2023, I’ve been playing in the Netherlands Youth Orchestra (JON). Roos and I regularly give concerts together. For example, we’ve performed in the Classic Express at the Princess Christina Competition, at the Isala Theater, the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague, and at one of the Talent Break Concerts organized by Codarts in collaboration with De Doelen in Rotterdam. Roos and I form a bassoon duo under the name “bassoontwins” or “fagottweeling.” See our websites at www.bassoontwins.com and www.instagram.com/bassoontwins.
As a duo, we’ve also performed as soloists a few times. In December 2022, we performed Vanhal’s Concerto for Two Bassoons together at De Doelen with the YTO. In March 2023, we performed a Vivaldi duo concerto with the Baroque orchestra Ars Musica in Rotterdam, and in April 2024, we performed Stephenson’s Concertino for Two Bassoons and Orchestra with the Artoni Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Ali Groen.
Before I started playing the bassoon, I was already playing the harp. I began when I was 3 years old. At the Codarts Lyceum, I took harp lessons from Lenie de Meij, and I am now also studying harp at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Sandrine Chatron.
Profile photo: Maaike Eijkman
