We had the good fortune of connecting with josefien stoppelenburg and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi josefien, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
For my work as a musician: The enormous amount of preparation it takes before you’re really ready to perform and have mastered a piece of music. It takes half a lifetime for the voice to fully mature and it keeps changing over time. Many elements can influence the voice: humidity in the air, hormones, how you slept, what you ate, altitude, etc, and each concert hall and musical style demands an vocal adjustment.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m originally from the Netherlands, and am a soprano, specialized in Baroque Music and I’m also a painter, so it’s a very creative life!
sing a lot of Bach, Handel, Monteverdi etc. This music demands great text sensitivity, very solid technique and virtuosity at break-neck speed, which I love. I‘m lucky to perform this music all over the States as a soloist and also appear in the Netherlands and Germany. With years of practice, my voice is now able to sing very fast melismas (runs of notes, often at high speed) and apart from performing, I also love teaching people to achieve the same (I frequently teach vocal masterclasses about Baroque Performance at conservatories)
As a musician, what I aim for is an interpretation that’s really personal and highly expressive. It takes years for classical musicians to master their instruments or voice, but the goal is to being an interpreter, not a ‘correct- notes -machine’. The only reason I practice like a maniac, is so that I can let the music flow through me uninhibitedly, so to speak. That way I’m also much more free to connect emotionally with an audience. In the end, it’s all about expression.
When I first came to the States, about 12 years ago, I didn’t know anyone so it was very hard to get work as a performer. I reached out to tons of musicians and organizations (in fact, I still do that..) Usually after performing with a new group, I’m asked back, so over the years, work has built up that way.
I’m also a painter of colourful canvases, and create many commissions for people. They will give me elements to work with that are meaningful to them, for example, they’ll say: ‘ I like roses, Paris, sailing boats and work as a judge needs to be in there too.’ I then somehow have to combine these elements into a coherent canvas, it’s a great challenge, I really love to make these paintings that are highly personalized! I even was commissioned once to make a painting that had Star Trek’s Spock in it, and the Tardis Police Box ☺
Many of my other paintings are based on nature; flowers, birds, stars etc.and many have musical elements in it; a violin or flute, or streams of music magically flowing around. Several months ago, my sister and I published a children’s book in the Netherlands (she wrote the story and I made the illustrations) We’re working on an English translation now and are looking for a publisher in the States.
I also have a small fashion collection, the fabrics are based on my paintings, so it’s very colorful! And I paint Pet Portraits, so there’s always something to do!
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in the Chicago area, and, depending on the friend, I would show her or him the beautiful places alongside Lake Michigan, visit the Art Institute, Symphony Center -or if it’s Summer – Ravinia Park and Grant Park Music Festival. Chicago has a lot of culture to be proud of, which I didn’t know at all before I came there from the Netherlands. There are also tons of outdoor art festivals in the Summer and lots of great restaurants.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The ‘Nationaal Kinderkoor’ (Dutch national Children’s Choir), a choir in the Netherlands that taught me and many others great vocal habits, inspiring musicality and discipline. It was founded by Dutch conductor Silvère van Lieshout and is now called ‘Nationale Koren’. My family are musicians, my Dad is a composer, my mom a pianist and my sister Charlotte a singer like me, (we still perform together as a vocal duo) and that was a tremendous help in the early years. And my husband Stephen Alltop, he is also a musician (conductor, harpsichord player and organist) and supports me in countless ways.
Website: Www.josefienstoppelenburg.com
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/Josefien.artandmusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josefien.stoppelenburg
Youtube: https://youtu.be/lDy_gquacpQ
Other: Painting website Www.josefienstoppelenburg-Art.com
Image Credits
Joe Francavilla Hilde Schreur