Lonneke van Straalen

In Fresh Ink, Lonneke van Straalen takes centre stage with her violin: one voice, one instrument. The solo programme treats the violin as a laboratory for new ideas, sounds and stories - from hushed intimacy to virtuosic explosions, from early polyphony to contemporary sound experiments. All music is recently composed or arranged, by composers ranging from Bach and Couperin to Lemereis and Svedberg.

Lonneke van Straalen is regarded as one of the most distinctive violinists of our time. In 2017 she founded the collective Pynarello, with which she aims to make classical music more playful and accessible. That same year she received the Prix Madeleine Margot for proven artistry. In 2023 Pynarello won De Ovatie for the most impressive live classical music performance, an award from the Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors.

In 2024 she launched TheDutchBrewhouse, a musical brewery where she collaborates with artists, writers, composers and musicians. She is also a chamber musician and guest concertmaster with ensembles and orchestras at home and abroad, and since 2015 leader of Aurora Orchestra in London. Lessons and mentoring sessions with students are also a regular part of her practice.