The Vondel Strings

The members of The Vondel Strings were brought together by Dutch violinist Rosanne Philippens in the midst of the corona crisis. Top soloists and chamber musicians were not allowed to play concerts for a live audience, but it was allowed to get together for a CD recording and a livestream concert. Rosanne Philippens and The Vondel Strings performed a Haydn & Stravinsky livestream concert in April 2021 in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, shortly after recording the programme of Haydn’s Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 and Stravinsky’s Le baiser de la fée for Channel Classics Records.

           The name of the ensemble is inspired by Vera Beths and her late husband Anner Bijlsma’s house in Amsterdam. That house is a lodestone for their pupils and for international stars, among whom it is known as ‘The Vondel’. Upstairs students were taught, downstairs life was discussed at the coffee table. It was natural that this ensemble, filled with such musicians, should be named after this special location.

Violin 1: Saskia Otto, Coraline Groen, Alexandra van Beveren, Tim Brackman
Violin 2: Pieter van Loenen, Gerard Spronk, Ruña ‘t Hart, Wiesje Nuiver
Viola: Hannah Strijbos, Simone van der Giessen, Vilem Kijonka
Cello: Lidy Blijdorp, Anton Spronk
Double bass: Ying-Lai Green
Harpsichord: David Jansen