From a very young age—as young as three, if I may believe it—I was fascinated by the violin. I found it truly remarkable that a bow simply moving across a string could produce a sound that penetrates right to your very core, and that fascination has never left me.
I never imagined during my studies in Amsterdam (with Lex Korff de Gidts and Peter Brunt) that I would end up playing in a string quartet so intensively. For me, the conservatory was a kind of playground where you want to try a little bit of everything. I played the Baroque violin and the viola d’amore there, but I also performed a lot of contemporary music—that really became a specialization for me. I really enjoy exploring a wide range of genres, from children’s music performances to live electronics.
Playing chamber music was a dream of mine, but finding a group that works well together isn’t easy. No matter how diverse the ensembles or how unusual the music I played, telling a story and thereby conveying something to the audience is something I’ve always found incredibly important. It’s truly special to be able to do this now with the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, with all that beautiful, versatile music written for string quartet. And since November 2017, we’ve been playing on the wonderfully warm-sounding Panormo from Het Muziekinstrumentenfonds!
