Marleen de Bakker

The Dutch Harpist, Marleen de Bakker, started harp lessons at the age of eight at the Hilversum music school. Her talent for the harp was discovered early on and from the age of fourteen she was taking lessons from the famous Dutch harpist Lavinia Meijer. Marleen studied harp at the Utrecht Conservatory, where she was taught by the renowned harpist Erika Waardenburg. She finished her master’s degree with a 9,5.

Marleen took orchestra lessons from Petra van der Heide, Saskia Rekke and Sandrine Chatron. Furthermore she participated in masterclasses from a.o. Gwyneth Wentink, Miriam Overlach, Sivan Magen, Elinor Bennet, Andrew Lawrence-King, Marieke Schneemann, Daniel Bard, Edward Witsenburg, Imogen Barford, Charlotte Seal, Vincent Cortvrint and Mikhail Zemtsov.

Marleen has won several prizes at numerous competitions and regularly performs solo, either with an orchestra or at solo recitals. In October 2016 she won the 17th annual audition training of the Amsterdam conservatory, organized by Sandrine Chatron.

Alongside her solo career Marleen often substitutes in several (professional) orchestras and is co-founder of Ensemble Pamoja; a young, thriving and much sought after ensemble, consisting of Annemieke Hereijgers on flute and Marleen on harp. Apart from playing as a duo, they often perform as a trio with Elisa Karen Tavenier on viola or Maya Fridman on cello.

Marleen has a passion for modern music and encourages composers to write new music for her or for her ensemble.

Apart from her work as a performing artist, Marleen loves to teach and has her own harp studio in Hilversum.

Marleen performs on a Lyon & Healy harp, which was bought partially through a loan from the Dutch national music instruments foundation (Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds).