Classic Lounge Collective is a group of 7 musicians: string quartet plus bass, percussion and keys. We write and perform original pieces based on classical repertoire - really drawing on the elegance and passion of the string sound and combining it with beats, grooves and harmonies that bring a whole new dimension.

Have a listen here.

Read more ...

Eventkwartet is a string quartet project that I have organised, to bring together colleagues who, like myself, have a wide and varied experience of playing in string quartets and ensembles.

We can provide music for any sort of event: background music to give the right atmosphere for a party or perhaps specific pieces to enhance the emotion and meaning of a ceremony. We can also play in a concert setting with more focused listening. In short we can tailor our performance and style to whatever clients require.

In addition to well known classical string quartets, I have a large selection of specially arranged classical pieces (for example from orchestral and operatic repertoire). My colleagues in Eventkwartet, like myself, have a lot of experience playing non-classical repertoire and my library of arrangements includes jazz standards, film and tv themes, songs from musicals, tango and other latin repertoire  and many pop and rock songs from the last decades.

 Many of the arrangements I have made myself - not just in order to make my library even more diverse - but also because it’s so much fun to play new interesting repertoire together as a string quartet. It’s not for nothing that many of the major composers of the last centuries wrote so many important works for string quartet - it’s a genre that offers so much flexibility and diversity. And as players we can also really appreciate the challenges, the intimacy and beauty of playing in this kind of group.

I have played in string quartets since I was young, studying classics of the string quartet repertoire. I broadened my studies further as string quartet improvisation became a major part of my postgraduate study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Since then I’ve played in a quartet that specialised in Entartete music (music banned by the Nazis) and a quartet that specialised in Argentine Tango. I’ve also organised many educational projects with string quartet: playing for toddlers, primary school children, writing/recording for young pop artists and working creatively with young string players.

Playing for events is something I have always enjoyed immensely. In London I played in many beautiful venues such as Claridges, The Dorchester and The Ritz and often venturing a little further into the countryside to places like Highclere Castle (location of Downton Abbey) or Hampton Court Palace. In the Netherlands I’ve played and organised string quartets for events in Diergaarde Blijdorp, Artis, De Dom Utrecht, Hotel Van Oranje and Capital C in the Diamantbeurs in Amsterdam.