Julia Philippens (NL)

Julia Philippens picked up the violin at 4 years old. She started her studies at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague for classical violin. After joining a group of Jazz musicians on tour she discovered her love for improvisation. She quickly left The Hague to start studying Jazz violin at the Amsterdam Conservatory. Studying both the great masters as well as her contemporaries she found her way as the only jazz violin student at the time. After graduating Cum Laude from her Bachelors in 2011, she went on to graduate Summa Cum Laude for her Masters diploma stating she is a ‘unique, groundbreaking violinist, with a radiant stage personality.’ She is the co-founder of the Fuse String Ensemble for which she plays, arranges and composes. With their bold approach to string music and a matching stage presence, Fuse rapidly became a one-to-watch formation on the cutting edge of Dutch musical life. They performed over 120 shows in nearly two years, at a wide range of stages such as The Rijksmuseum, Vredenburg, Paradiso, at The Concertgebouw Tracks series, Classical:Next 2015, Buma Classical Convention and in clubs, churches, concert halls and living rooms all over the Netherlands. Fuse is currently the houseband of the Dutch TV show ‘Podium Witteman’. They performed on popular daily talkshow ’De Wereld Draait Door’, featured on Radio 1, 2, 4 and 6, composed the leader-music for TV show ’Opium’ and recorded strings for DJ-superstar Oliver Heldens. One year after her studies Julia was asked to be the mainsubject-teacher (jazzviolin) at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.