Biography
“Triesschijn’s sound is beguiling,
real edge-of-your-seat, ears-wide-open stuff”
Mark Seow, Gramophone (GB)
“Thomas Triesschijn is a fluent virtuoso”
Nicholas Anderson, BBC Music Magazine (GB)
The Dutch recorder player Thomas Triesschijn maintains an active schedule as a soloist and chamber musician in various settings throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. He is a favourite among audiences for his distinctive blend of virtuosity, musical energy, and charisma. Triesschijn’s playing is, in addition, characterized by its sweet and disarming tone, one that particularly complements his instrument, the flauto dolce. He draws inspiration from instruments from the 16th to 18th centuries, placing him in the tradition of historical performance practice embodied by pioneers such as Frans Brüggen and Gustav Leonhardt.
Triesschijn has shared the stage with ensembles and conductors such as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Ton Koopman, Capriccio Stravagante and Skip Sempé, Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, Holland Baroque, and Vox Luminis, among others. He is a welcome guest on international stages and festivals, from the Royal Palace in Versailles
and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to the Utrecht Early Music Festival and the Kölner Philharmonie.
Together with his chamber ensembles The Counterpoints and the Holborne Consort, Thomas Triesschijn has assembled dynamic concert programmes that frequently put the well-known recorder repertoire in dialogue with arrangements and works by lesser-known composers. His repertoire thus spans music from the early 16th century to the present.
Thomas Triesschijn has been featured on numerous radio and television programmes and counts several CD and DVD recordings to his name. His Telemann album La Querelleuse was awarded an Editor’s Choice by Gramophone Magazine. On Triesschijn’s most recent CD, Thomascantors in Dialogue, he appears as a soloist in four recorder concertos by the
composers who applied for the position of Thomascantor in Leipzig in 1723.
After his first musical experiences as a chorister at the age of 6 together with his twin brother, Triesschijn began playing the recorder. Singing has nevertheless remained an important source of inspiration throughout his career. He studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague under Dorothea Winter and at the Utrecht Conservatory under Heiko ter Schegget. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including at the Princess Christina Competition and the Eurovision Young Musician’s Competition.
When he’s not playing himself, Thomas Triesschijn likes to share his passion for music and the recorder with masterclasses and teaching. He currently lives in Switzerland, where he teaches at the Musikschule Luzern.
May 2023
“Thomas Triesschijn has gained a well-deserved reputation as a versatile and accomplished recorder player, working with some of the finest Baroque ensembles in Europe”
James V. Maiello, Fanfare Magazine (USA)
“‘…un prodigio de virtuosismo, musicalidad y expresividad”
Mariano Acero Ruilopez, Scherzo Magazine (ES)
“‘Thomas Triesschijn mit seinem verführerischen Blockflötenklang phrasiert ausgesprochen phantasievoll und nie vordergründig virtuos”
Wolfgang Reihing, Toccata Magazine (DE)