Isabelle van Keulen

The repertory of versatile violinist Isabelle van Keulen includes many contemporary works as well as standard repertory. She often performs chamber music and sometimes plays the viola as well as the violin. Van Keulen was born on December 16, 1966, in the small town of Mijdrecht in the Netherlands. Her father was an artist, and her sister plays the flute. Van Keulen took up the violin at age six and soon began lessons with Theo de Bakker. She gave her first concert at 10. Van Keulen enrolled at Alkwin College in Uithoorn, and in 1984, she entered the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, where her principal teacher was Davina van Wely. She also had instruction from Vladimir Spivakov, Boris Gutnikov, and Sándor Végh. Two major prizes helped van Keulen's career along: she won the Menuhin Competition in Folkestone, England, in 1983 and the 1984 Eurovision Young Musician of the Year Competition in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1988, she made her recording debut on the Deutsche Grammophon label as part of an octet led by violinist Gidon Kremer, performing Schubert's Octet in F major, D. 803. That was the first of many chamber recordings made by van Keulen, who often collaborated during the first part of her career with pianist Ronald Brautigam. She founded the Isos Quartet in 1995 and performed with that group as its first violinist. From 1996 to 2006, van Keulen served as artistic director of the Delft International Music Festival. She also performs as a soloist. Both her concert repertory and her recording catalog feature contemporary music prominently, and she has premiered various important works, including Erkki-Sven Tüür's violin-and-clarinet concerto Noesis (2006). Van Keulen has recorded for Koch International, BIS, and Challenge Classics, among other labels; on the latter, she joined pianist Oliver Triendl for the album Grigory Frid: The Complete Works for Violin and Piano. ~ James Manheim, Rovi