As long as I can remember I wanted to play the violin. The first few years I played together with my sisters, later on I played with friends from youth orchestras. As concertmaster of the Ricciotti Ensemble I learned how to lead a group, but above all I experienced how amazing it can be to touch people with your music. Besides my studies in Amsterdam with Kees Koelmans and Peter Brunt I also spent a year in Vienna to study with Günter Pichler from the Alban Berg Quartet. As a violinist you can develop yourself in many directions. For several years I have been teaching children aged 6 to 19, from whom I learn just as much from them as they learn from me. I got the chance to participate in the Academy of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. That was an incredible experience. Nevertheless, I got more and more convinced about the fact that playing in a string quartet was all I ever wanted. As a string quartet you are independent, you can do whatever you decide. It is wonderful to have fun on stage with the four of us and to make the audience a part of our story. When I have a solo, I am able to take all the freedom I need, because I know that my colleagues will always be there to support me. Since September of 2017, I have been performing on the “Douglas Kane-violin”, built by Francesco Goffriller around 1725, on generous loan from the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation (NMF)