Prof. Marieke Spaans

Vita

Prof. Marieke Spaans (Amsterdam, *1972) is known as a harpsichordist on many European stages. Characteristic of her playing is the combination of maximum musical expression and dialogue in music with a thorough knowledge of the "practice of early music". This leads to a sparkling concert experience, full of spontaneity and passion, inspired by a boundless passion for the music of the 17th and 18th centuries. 

She studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt at the 'Sweelinck Conservatorium' in Amsterdam, where she obtained her soloist and teacher's diploma in 1997; she has taken part in master classes with Jos van Immerseel, Luigi Tagliavini, Michael Radulescu and Lars-Ulrik Mortensen. She also studied organ and church music with Pieter van Dijk, Hans van Nieuwkoop and Wolfgang Zerer. A scholarship from the "Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten Nederland" enabled her to study on the fortepiano.

She was a prizewinner at various renowned competitions: 1997 in the NDR harpsichord competition in Hamburg, 2000 in the "Musica Antiqua" competition in Bruges (with her ensemble "La Calendola Amsterdam") and in the "Premio Bonporti 2000" competition in Rovereto (with Lidewij van der Voort: baroque violin). 

Marieke Spaans performs throughout Europe as a soloist and as an ensemble musician (e.g. in "La Calendola Amsterdam", "Combattimento Consort Amsterdam", "Ludwigsburger Festspielorchester"), in chamber music, opera and oratorio productions, under the direction of conductors such as Wieland Kuijken, Paul McCreesh, Nicholas McGegan, Anton Steck and Jan Willem de Vriend. She also gives concerts with the renowned violists Prof. Anton Steck and Prof. John Holloway.

She has performed at all the major early music festivals in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Recordings of her playing, both for radio and television, have been broadcast by IKON, VARA, AVRO (NL), Radio Klara (BE), NDR, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Deutschland Radio and Arte (D).

Marieke Spaans is associated with the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen (D) as Professor of Historic Keyboard Instruments at the Institute of Early Music and thus belongs to the younger generation of professors in Germany. Prior to her employment in Germany, she taught at the conservatories of Amsterdam (1994-2000) and Rotterdam (1997-2000). She also regularly lectures in several courses in the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal (for the 'Estúdio de Ópera' in Porto). Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)