Els Biesemans
Biography Els Biesemans
Els Biesemans
is a pianist, an organist, a chamber musician, and the initiator and director of Zurich’s “Flügelschläge” fortepiano festival: Els Biesemans has explored many facets of music in the course of her career. After studying in Leuven, the Belgian artist further developed her specialization in the multidimensional 18th- and 19th-century keyboard music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. With a performance repertoire ranging from medieval to modern music, Els Biesemans has won numerous international awards. She has won the Ciurlionis Competition in Vilnius and was awarded the Arp-Schnitger Prize at the Bremen Music Festival. Both in Switzerland and abroad, she performs as a soloist on the fortepiano, on the organ, and with her chamber music ensemble Elsewhere. Els Biesemans is celebrated as a brilliant interpreter of famous composers, but also as a discoverer of forgotten music.
Born in Antwerp in 1978 and studied organ, piano and chamber music at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven. She won first prize at the 2003 International Ciurlionis Organ and Piano Competition in Lithuania, second prize at the 2004 International Organ Competition Musahino-Tokyo and third prize at the 2004 Concours d’Orgue de la Ville de Paris. She has already performed extensively throughout Europe as well as in Russia. Her great virtuosity, wide repertoire and musical maturity are continually praised by press and public alike. She is the organist of the monumental Van Bever organ of the Dominican Church in Brussels.
