VROLIJK, Renske

Vrolijk describes her musical start as ‘falling into a vat of magic potion’. This transformative experience happened at a young age at choir school. Vocal music has since formed the foundation of her musical thinking. She later honed this foundation during her composition studies. From 1989 to 1994, she studied at the Sweelinck Conservatorium. Her teachers there were Daan Manneke and Geert van Keulen.

Music remained a constant factor throughout her life. Alongside this path, she worked for many years as a web editor. She held positions at the Dutch broadcaster NCRV and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

The crowning achievement came in 2022 with the performance of #uncut (composed in 2020) for the Nederlands Kamerkoor, Bl!ndman [sax], ORBI, and three vocal soloists. As a direct result of this success was a follow-up commission from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for the children’s performance De neus (The Nose).

With this prestigious commission secured, Vrolijk took the leap. Since 2023, she has been working as a full-time composer and also teaches at the ArtEZ Conservatory in Arnhem.

Since #UNCUT she composed the True Love Song Cycle for soprano Bauwien van der Meer, Drift for the Berlin based Sonic.art quartet and The nose, a light-hearted children’s performance commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.