ESTHER STEENBERGEN

* Biography PDF | * Biografie NL PDF | * Foto’s | * YouTube

Guitarist Esther Steenbergen is internationally recognized for her fresh approach to the repertoire. Renowned as a soloist, ensemble player, and accompanist for singers and instrumentalists, Esther Steenbergen collaborates with musicians from numerous styles and disciplines. She occasionally takes part in theater productions.

With her own trio, she crossed the classical repertoire with Latin and Jazz. As a member of the highly acclaimed Amsterdam Guitar Trio, an accompanist for the well-known bass-baritone Maarten Koningsberger, and a member of her own trio, she performed all across Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

SIDE ROADS

While still a student, she won first prize at the Maria Canals international music competition in Barcelona (Spain) and was then overcome by doubts about life as a classical guitarist. She started her journey, sometimes desperately, other times with great pleasure, along many twisted and unusual paths.

She studied art policy and culture management, produced radio programs and concert series, and, for a while, even worked at an employment agency for stage artists. One sunny day, wondering how on earth she had ended up there, she left the building and retraced her steps.

WIDE RANGE OF INTERESTS

Esther Steenbergen is a guitarist with a wide range of interests. She occasionally organizes concerts and gatherings, engages in reading and writing. She has a protégé with whom she explores the art world.

2024 / 25

In the 2024/25 season she will start performing again, with two new programs: “My Spanish heart” and “My New Repertoire.”

LECTURE

In her lecture “So You Want to Play in the Concertgebouw,” she shares insights from her 25 years of experience in organizing the “Meesters op de Gitaar” concert series in the renowned venue in Amsterdam.

DISCOGRAFIE

PAPAS CALIENTES
Musica Rioplatense, with Gustavo Pazos Conde
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DE PLOEG
Member Ruyneman ensemble

W.A. MOZART
Amsterdam Guitar Trio,
Helenus de Rijke, Olga Franssen, Esther Steenbergen
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J.S. BACH
Solo, Fifth bass guitar, Cello suites
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FRANZ SCHUBERT
Die schöne Müllerin, Arpegiona Sonata,
with Maarten Koningsberger and Olga Franssen
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REPERTOIRE
Esther Steenbergen Trio (Eric Calmes, Enrique Firpi)
Roël Calister, Eric Vaarzon Morel.
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TANIA CROSS | CORAZÓN
Member ensemble, arrangements

NEW REPERTOIRE
Esther Steenbergen Trio (Eric Calmes, Enrique Firpi)
Oene van Geel, Claus Tofft, Theodor Milkov
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THE LOST PARK
Music by Peter Lunow
Vinyl, Project Maria Barnas

GEERT CHATROU | ORNITHOLOGY
Accompanist

ZING MET ONS MEE
Tania Kross
Member ensemble

WHAT’S NEW
Member Nico van der Linden Quartet

SAKURA
Solo
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EDUCATION

Esther Steenbergen studied Musicology at the University of Utrecht and majored in classical guitar with Hubert Käppel at the Musikhochschule Köln (Germany). She followed lessons with the Czech guitarist Pavel Steidl and masterclasses with the Cubans Manuel Barrueco and Leo Brouwer.

INSTRUMENTS

Esther Steenbergen plays instruments made by her husband, the Amsterdam guitar maker Otto Vowinkel.