Renske Tjoelker

Renske studied the harp with Erika Waardenburg at the conservatorie of Utrecht, where she got her bachelor in 2005. During her master studies after she studied several months with Jana Boušková, in the royal conservatorie of Brussels. In 2007 she finished her studies of ‘Master of Performance’ with high marks in Utrecht.

Furthermore she attended masterclasses with Fabrice Pierre, Emilia Moskvitina, Godelieve Schrama, Brigitte Sylvestre and others. At the moment Renske still has lessons, for example with Petra van der Heide (harpist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra).

Renske works as a freelancer with professional orchestras. She played for example in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the The Hague Philharmonic, the Radio Filharmonic Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. With the EUYO (European Union Youth Orchestra) she played with famous conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy and Vasily Petrenko. They went on tour to Japan, China, South Korea and Europe.

In Aachen, Germany, she was soloharpist in the Aachener Sinfonie Orchester, as replacement of the harp player on pregnancy leave. Also now Renske is regularly asked to play in the orchestra.

As a soloist Renske played the ‘Dances’ of Debussy, with the string orchestra of the conservatory in Utrecht, and later also with a string ensemble of the EUYO, in Yokohama, Japan.

Making music together with others is what Renske loves doing. She played for years in the ‘Trio des Songes’ with viola and flute. This ensemble could be heard for example in the small hall of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. In 2008 she formed a duo with violinist Angel Marote, the Krinos Duo. They played in a festival for chamber music in Madrid and gave several concerts in the Netherlands. At the moment Renske plays together with violist Tjitske Kwakkel-Homma (from the Trio des Songes).