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The Dutch soprano, Bobbie Blommesteijn, started her musical career at the Haarlemse Koorschool. With the Kathedrale Koor she made concert tours to England, Germany, France and Slovakia. At a young age she also participated in performances of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 and Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas Cantata in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. During that period she worked with Riccardo Chailly and Simon Rattle, among others. She was part of the first line-up of the Haarlem Voices, directed by Sarah Barret, with whom she also had singing lessons. At the age of 14 she started her singing studies at the pre-education at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag (2003-2007), where she studied Classical Singing with Manon Heijne. She continued this study with Sasja Hunnego at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (2008-2010).
In addition to her work as a soloist (since 2010), Bobbie Blommesteijn is a sought-after ensemble singer. She is associated with the Hieronymus Ensemble (since August 2019), Balthasar-Neumann-Chor (since April 2019; Director: Thomas Hengelbrock), Gaechinger Cantorey (since April 2019; Director: Hans-Christoph Rademann), Vocalensemble Rastatt (since January 2019; Director: Holger Speck), Cappella Amsterdam (since December 2018; Director: Daniel Reuss), Voces8 (since May 2017; Director: Barnaby Smith), Laurens Collegium Rotterdam (Director: Wiecher Mandemaker), Collegium Vocale Gent (since September 2018; Director: Philippe Herreweghe), Nederlands Kamerkoor (since August 2018; Director: Peter Dijkstra) and can be heard regularly in various occasional ensembles, including Consort of Cappella Nicolai (since December 2009). She also writes her own songs, and regularly collaborates with singer & songwriter Rufus Kain.
After her studies at the conservatory, Bobbie Blommesteijn studied Theatre Studies at the Universiteit van Amsterdam (September 2014-August 2015), where she graduated with a specialization in Cabaret History. In addition to her work as a singer, she still works as an independent writer, researcher and reviewer. She currently lives in Haarlem, the Netherlands. |
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Sources:
Bobbie Blommesteijn Website & Facebook profile, English translation by Aryeh Oron (August 2023)
Photos 001, 004-005, 011-013, 017, 019: Ramon Philippo-Raf Fotografie; Photo 22: Rona Lane Photography; Photo 031: © Mónica Monteiro
Bits & pieces from other sources
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (August 2023) |
