Biography

After having studied the violin with István Párkányi (Orlando String Quartet) I graduated in may 1990 at the Sweelink Conservatory in Amsterdam. I also participated in the fall and winter programs at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 1989-1990 (Canada), where I mainly studied chamber music and also participated in musical theatre productions. I played the role of the devil (dressed as a woman) in the first English spoken performance of the musical theatre production ‘Oral Treason’ by Mauricio Kagel, and ended up playing the devil once more in a performance of ‘Rounds’ by Murray Schafer, also in Banff.

Since 1990 I have been working full time as freelance violinist, and played for the following orchestras and ensembles: The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, Holland Symfonia/The Dutch Ballet Orchestra, ASKO|Schönberg Ensemble, Mondriaan Kwartet Extended, Ebony Band, The Amsterdamse Bach Soloists, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, European Union Chamber Orchestra, The North Nederlands Symphony Orchestra, LUDWIG Orchestra, Camerata RCO, The Beau Hunks, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam (in ‘Nico’, ‘Perfect Skin’, and ‘Die Suche nach dem Kleid in the production Heartland).

Corrie van Binsbergen’s inspiring projects have a special place and meaning in my professional life. Our first project ‘Links” started off in 1999 and since then I participated in many editions of ‘Schrijvers in Concert’ (‘Writers in Concert’) e.g. with Toon Tellegen, Kees van Kooten, Renate Dorrestein, Remco Campert, Ramsey Nasr, Josse de Pauw and Dimitri Verhulst (zie discografie). In 2015 Corrie set up an all women cast (including authors) in the production ‘Dansen op een glazen plafond’ (‘Dancing on a glass ceiling’) and we toured the Netherlands in that formation.

I come from a musical background; my father Roel de Jong was the principal bassoonist in the Frisian Orchestra (then based in Leeuwarden), and that same orchestra provided my first professional work at te age of eighteen. I still love the palette and richness of sound of big symphony orchestras and the immense repertoire. I also started playing string quartet at an early age and hope to continue making chamber music all my life. In 1999 I took the first steps in improvisation and started working in more depth at that from 2007 with Albert van Veenendaal resulting in the album Midday Moon (2009) with Hans Hasebos (marimba and Alan ‘Gunga’ Purves (percussion).

In autumn 2017 Jodi Gilbert (voice), Albert van Veenendaal and I formed Rara Avis. Our way of music making has evolved into a form of totally improvised chamber music, and we find inspiration in a wide variety of texts ranging from the eternal wisdom of 14th century Sufi poetry to a humorous modern newspaper headline. On april 2th 2021 our first album ‘How do I listen” was released on Bandcamp, and in the beginning of june the album was released on Donemus’ Crossover label.