Veronique De Raedemaeker (1996) is a Belgian violinist based in Cologne, praised for her richness in sound and instinctively beautiful phrasing. She is drawn to music from a wide variety of classical genres and has a diverse repertoire in her fingers, ranging from Berio and Biber to Beethoven, Auerbach, Bartók and Harvey.
Veronique De Raedemaeker is a a prize winner of several national and international violin and chamber music competitions, including Supernova, Young Belgian Talent, Internationaler Anton Rubinstein Wettbewerb, Concours Breughel, Belfius Classics, interner Kammermusikwettbewerb HfMT Köln, Internationaler Violinwettbewerb der Kulturstiftung Hohenlohe and Vieuxtemps Concours. From 2020–2022 she was a scholarship holder of the Werner Richard Dr. Carl Dörken Stiftung, which selected her for the concert tour "Best of NRW", and she was artist in residence of SWUK in 2022–2023. Over the years, she has been supported by Young Belgian Talent, for which she is very grateful.
For many years, she was part of Live Music Now Köln, an organisation which, inspired by Yehudi Menuhin, is dedicated to bringing classical music to people who would otherwise have little or no access to it. This idea has continued to grow within her as a philosophical approach, inspiring her, during her projects and when putting together programs, to reflect on the social impact of music and the arts in general.
Veronique began her violin studies with Francis Reusens at the Academy for Music, Word and Dance in Lier. After studying Greek–Mathematics, which she combined with "Young Conservatory," she graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp with a Bachelor of Music with Alissa Margulis. Under the tuition of Barnabás Kelemen, she obtained the highest distinction for the Master's degree in Violin Solo and Neue Musik at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln where, in the class of Mikhail Ovrutsky, she completed the Konzertexamen degree with "summa cum laude."
In parallel, she learned from renowned musicians such as Philippe Graffin at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels, Ivry Gitlis, Julia Fisher, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Piet Kuijken, Tatiana Samouil, David Quiggle, Frank Peter Zimmerman, Pavel Vernikov, Paulo Álvares, Görgyi Pauk, Kristóf Baráti, Jonian Ilias Kadesha and András Keller.
Over the past years, Veronique has performed at the Klavierfestival Ruhr, Festival Academy Budapest, Klara Festival, Festival Musiq3, Iedereen Klassiek Brugge, Kortrijk Festival, Arte Amanti Festival, Festival Rencontres musicales internationales Enghien, Acht Brücken Festival Köln, Verbier Festival, Lugano Festival, Luzerne Festival, Schiermonnikoog Young Talent Festival, Festival Académie Ravel, Musica Mundi and others.
Performances as a soloist include works by Beethoven, Bartók, Schubert, Brahms, Harvey, Wieniawski, Lalo, Bach, Vivaldi, Vasks and Mendelssohn, featuring with the Brussels Philharmonic, Köln Sinfonietta, La Passione orchestra, Gödölö Symphony Orchestra, East Flanders Symphony Orchestra and the Russian Chamber Philharmonic St. Petersburg. She has performed as a soloist or in chamber music setting in concert halls such as Flagey & Bozar Brussels, Concertgebouw Brugge, Amuz & Queen Elisabeth Hall Antwerp, Miry & De Bijloke Ghent, Philharmonie Cologne, WDR Funkhaus and Tonhalle Düsseldorf.
A passionate chamber musician, she regularly performs with her own ensembles — Trio Gilu, Bowmore Quartet, Oreneta Kammerensemble, ÉRMA Ensemble, in duo with pianist Alexander Declercq (Duo Altiler) and with harpist Mathilde Wauters.
"Richness in sound and instinctively beautiful phrasing."
Her CD Malinconia with works by Prokofiev, De Gheselle and Ysaÿe was awarded by the Flemish classical radio with the Choice of Klara.
She released the CD "Garland — Songs for Soprano, Violin and Harp" with her Trio Gilu and she published the solo single "Bach and Berio — a diptych". All of her publications are released by Etcetera Records.
Her fascination with new music has allowed her to collaborate with contemporary composers such as Unsuk Chin, Helmut Lachenmann, Heinz Holliger, and makes it possible to regularly work closely with young composers such as Helena Cánovas i Parés, Ruben De Gheselle, Martín Letelier, Emile Daems e.a. of whom she has premiered their works. Together with Anton Gerzenberg and Yorgos Ziavras, she is a founding member of the ÉRMA Ensemble, which specializes in the performance of new music.
Veronique plays on a violin by Stefan-Peter Greiner. In 2024, she was featured on the program of "The Twintigers" on Klara.
