In 1997 I was asked to participate in Ed Wubbe’s ballet ‘Nico’ (the famous lead singer from Velvet Underground ) for Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. John Cale composed the music for te ballet, and Corrie van Binsbergen was asked to play the guitar parts.
The string sounds around inspired her to set up a project called “Links” . That is where my collaboration with the pianist Albert van Veenendaal started. After a period of experimenting, home recording and loads of listening we recorded the album Midday Moon with the great Alan Purves (slagwerk) en marvellous Hans Hasebos (marimba) in 2009.
The exploration of freedom didn’t stop there. Albert, Jodi Gilbert (voice) and I set up Rara Avis in 2017. Our very different musical backgrounds lead to a special soundworld where Jodi’s vocal acrobatics meet my classical tone and technique in a cinematic setting provided by Albert’s (prepared) piano playing . I am drawn to the highly personal side of improvising. No music stands, open connections, open mind, listening in a broad way. Texts inspire me strongly, which also explains my love for opera and setting up literary concerts in libraries. I love to play around with the musical idiom that I have subconsciously gathered over decades of playing the violin in orchestras and ensembles, and I particularly like the modernist period (Alban Berg, Anton Webern) but also composers such as Bartók and Stravinsky who both composed in many different styles. The violin concertos of the contemporary composer John Adams also inspire me very much, love the lyric quality and great originality of his music. In the Netherlands we also use the term Instant Composing for improvising and both terms attract me; feeling free, on edge as if performing a written piece, colouring and brushing like a painter, and in intense contact with other musicians.