Hey! I’m Quintijn van Heek. I’m studying at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Maria Milstein, and I’m also taking jazz violin as a minor with Tim Kliphuis.
I started playing the violin when I was 6, first at the Zeeuwse Muziekschool in Middelburg (I was born in Vlissingen), but I soon began taking lessons from Coosje Wijzenbeek when I was 9. At that time, I was also a member of the Fancy Fiddlers and attended the Sweelinck Academy at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. When I was 11, I went to Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester (in 2014), where I first studied with Sebastian Müller and later with Jan Repko. Life at a boarding school in another country was fun, and I learned a lot there, but when I was 15, I “moved” and went to the Musica Mundi School in Waterloo, Belgium (2018). I studied there for three years with Leonid Kerbel. It was a wonderful environment, and I still consider it my second home. I made a lot of music there and also took masterclasses with greats like Ivry Gitlis.
These days (2023), I’m studying back in Amsterdam at the Conservatory with Maria Milstein, but during my final years at Musica Mundi, I’d also developed an interest in jazz. So I’m also taking lessons with jazz legend Tim Kliphuis as a minor. I’m now in my second year of my bachelor’s degree. Music is truly my life; I think I say “I love music” at least three times a week, and to be honest, I don’t understand how people can live without making music. But that’s up to them—“whatever floats your boat,” right?
Besides music, I also love cooking, playing chess, and listening to music. I love music. I play a 1993 Goldnagl and use a bow by Andreas Grütter, and I’m very happy with them. A good instrument is very important, because ultimately, what we do as musicians is express ourselves through our music, and the better the instrument, the better we can do that—and the better we can convey it to the audience and truly move them.
