Isabelle van Keulen (born 16 December 1966) is a Dutch violinist and violist, performing principally as a chamber musician but also as a concert violist. She founded the Isos Quartet in 1995. For more than 20 years, she collaborated with the pianist Ronald Brautigam and the mezzo-soprano singer . In 2012, she became an educator at the Lucerne School of Music. Since 2017, she has been artistic director at

Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss The Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein (dkn) is a chamber orchestra based in Neuss, Germany, specializing in obscure music from the baroque and classical periods as well as new music commissioned especially for them. The group was founded in ...

in Germany.

Early life

Born in Mijdrecht on 16 December 1966, Isabelle van Keulen was raised in an art-loving home in which her father was a painter and her sister a flautist. She began studying the violin when she was only six under Theo de Bakker. From 1979, she continued her studies at Alkwin College in

Uithoorn Uithoorn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Uithoorn consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: De Kwakel and Uithoorn. ''Dut ...

and from 1984 at the Amsterdam Conservatoire under .

Career

In 1983, she won second prize in the Menuhin Young Violinists Competition and the following year was the winner of the

Eurovision Young Musicians The Eurovision Young Musicians (), often shortened to EYM, or Young Musicians, is a biennial classical music competition for European musicians that are aged between 12 and 21. It is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and broadcast ...

contest which was televised throughout Europe. In the early 1990s, she performed frequently as a concert violist, in 1995 she founded the Isos Quartet as first violinist, and in 1996 she founded the Delft International Music Festival which she directed until 2006. Van Keulen has taken a special interest in performing the works of less recognized modern composers, including

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and rec ...

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (russian: Софи́я Асгáтовна Губaйду́лина, link=no , tt-Cyrl, София Әсгать кызы Гобәйдуллина; born 24 October 1931) is a Soviet-Russian composer and an established ...

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyma ...

Allan Pettersson Gustaf Allan Pettersson (19 September 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Swedish composer and violist. He is considered one of the 20th century's most important Swedish composers, he was described as one of the last great symphonists, ...

, Hans Henkemans, Erkki-Sven Tüür and Theo Loevendie. Since 1992, her performances have been released on a wide selection of CDs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keulen, Isabelle van 1966 births People from Mijdrecht Dutch classical violinists Dutch classical violists Women classical violinists Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni Winners of Eurovision Young Musicians Living people