Nederlands

About me

Following the tradition of my family, I attended ballet class at the age of seven. I experienced my first musical performance on stage as a drummer boy in a children's opera. It was after this experience that my interest in music developed. The musical accompanist for the ballet lessons was Robert Jan Stips (Supersister), who was at that time still a young student at the conservatory of music. Inspired by him, I started listening to pop music, blues, and jazz, and I started to value these genres very much. At the age of ten, my parents send me to the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague where I learned to express myself artistically. Here I was introduced to a variety of musical instruments, but it was not until after high school that my interest and appreciation for music intensified.

Singing was not my first choice. I first experimented with the guitar and tenor saxophone; finally I learned to play the bass successfully. In the years that followed, my love for Jazz emerged. It was an educational period in which I gained experience as a bass player at jazz festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival. During this time I was cautiously introduced to the microphone. By chance I went to listen to my old music professor Wim van Bommel. While I was listening to the singing I jokingly asked if I was allowed to sing a song. The audience started to applaud spontaneously right after my last notes. To my great surprise I received an invitation to sing at the North Sea Jazz festival a week later.

My successful performances inspired me to carefully combine a singing career in addition to my career as a bass player.

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