Isabelle van Keulen | Biography
Viola, Violin

”Her taut musical intelligence and vivid sound combined with a fine instinct for the tender, searching quality of this music … absolutely magical.” The Guardian

Since her break-through in 1984 – in that year she became Young Musician of the Year, a competition that was broadcasted all over Europe and watched live on television by millions of people – Isabelle van Keulen can look back to many years of musical diversity. Not only is it vital to her to approach the musical score with honesty and an extremely consious interpretations, she also strives to communicate with her audience and her musical partners, which allows her to perform in an inspirational, lively and enthousiastic way.

Her versatility also shows in the fact that she not only plays the violin. With the same energy she plays the viola, plays chamber music in any thinkable combination and directs chamber orchestras. Whether it is in the over 20 years intense collaboration with the Dutch pianist Ronald Brautigam, concerts with mezzo Christianne Stotijn, being part of the Leopold String Trio, play/directing the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, combining violin and viola in one appearance, founding a chamber music festival – from 1997 until 2006 Isabelle van Keulen was Artistic Director of the Delft Chamber Music Festival -, giving masterclasses or being a soloist with orchestras such as Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic or NHK Tokyo. In the first place being truthfull to the music is her highest priority.

At all times she will engage in works written by contemporary composers. She had many concertos specially written for her (Theo Loevendie, Erkki-Sven Tüür) and has many other 20th and 21st century works in her repertoire: Concertos by Henri Dutilleux, John Adams, Lera Auerbach, Oliver Knussen and Brett Dean. She also likes to perform less known works, a.o. Concertos by Krenek, Pettersson and Busoni.

Isabelle van Keulen has made many recordings in the past decades, the most recent ones are Berg Violin Concerto (Chandos), a CD with violin-piano sonatas by Strauss, Nino Rota and Respighi (Channel Classics), Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet with Sharon Kam (Berlin Classics) and Bach’s Goldberg Variations  with Leopold String Trio (Hyperion).

Highlights for the season 2011-2012 are two performances of Brett Dean’s Violin Concerto under the baton of the composer in Hamburg in October, a performance as play/director with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in London in November, Carte Blanche with three concerts in Concertgebouw in Haarlem in spring 2012 and several concerts in Spain: Sevilla, Teneriffa and Granada.

She has been appointed to a professorship for violin, viola and chamber music at the Luzern University of Applied Sciences and Arts, starting in autumn 2012.

Isabelle van Keulen plays a Guarneri del Gesu from 1734, and a viola built by Peter Greiner.

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