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    Janine Jansen

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    Janine Jansen: 10 facts about the great violinist

    Born 7 January 1978 in the Netherlands, Janine Jansen is one of the world's great violin players. She also organises her own festival! Find out more here.

    1. Janine Jansen violinist

      1. A musical family

      Janine Jansen comes from a musical family: her father is an organist and harpsichord player (as is one of her brothers), her mother is a singer, and another brother plays the cello in a Dutch radio orchestra. Her uncle is the renowned bass Peter Kooy.

    2. Janine Jansen violinist

      2. Appearance in Scotland

      She began to study the violin at the age of six after first considering the cello. She appeared as a soloist with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland in 2001 when she performed the Brahms Violin Concerto.

    3. Janine Jansen violinist

      3. Award winner

      She received the Dutch Music Prize in 2003 and, in the UK, the distinguished Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award in 2009.

    4. Janine Jansen violinist

      4. Crowd-pleaser

      She has regularly received standing ovations from enthusiastic audiences, including a capacity crowd of 25,000 at a Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 2006 concert

    5. Janine Jansen violinist stradivarius

      5. A magnificent instrument

      Jansen currently uses the 1727 Stradivari "Barrere" violin, on extended loan by the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

    6. Janine Jansen violinist

      6. The world's greatest orchestras

      She works regularly with the world’s most eminent orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic, amongst others.

    7. Janine Jansen violinist

      7. Janine Jansen 5

      Jansen has begun her own chamber music festival in Utrecht. She has often worked with the acclaimed pianist Itmar Golan.

    8. Janine Jansen violinist

      8. Beethoven and Britten

      In 2009 Jansen released her recording of the Beethoven and Britten Violin Concertos. She said that recording them together was a long-standing desire of hers, as she sees these two works as among the greatest concertos in the current repertoire.

    9. Janine Jansen violinist

      9. Breaking with tradition

      Jansen has eschewed tradition by recording with only five solo strings rather than a full orchestra, including her brother as cellist and father playing continuo.

    10. Janine Jansen violinist

      10. She plays like she is

      The conductor Paavo Järvi has said of her, “She plays like she is. She’s a person of genuine warmth, genuine feeling, genuine expression. There’s nothing fake, nothing manufactured or prepared. The expression feels like it’s happening now and it’s honest. It’s like a child.”

    Janine Jansen News

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    janine jansen mendelssohn la phil

    Can we please just take a moment to recognise how incredible Janine Jansen sounds here?

    LA Phil

    Janine Jansen

    Classic FM Arts Daily Podcast - 23 July 2009

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