composer

Krüs, Monique

Monique Krüs was born in Utrecht.
As a child she got piano- and guitarlessons and started writing her own songs.
Her fascination for people led her to study Psychology at the University of Utrecht. In those years she sang in her own jazz-trio, played guitar in a rockband and wrote the title-song for the first movie of Dutch Oscar-winning director Mike van Diem.

The Utrechts Conservatorium and the Mozarteum in Salzburg prepared her for
the classical stage. For 3 three years she was engaged at the operahouse in Essen (D). Since then she sings as a guest in European operahouses and concerthalls.
Her flexible dramatic coloratura voice is not only qualified for the traditional repertoire like Violetta in' Traviata' or Konstanze in 'Entführung', but also for contemporary music like the 'Requiem' by Ligeti, Schönberg's 'Herzgewächse'
and Guus Janssen's opera 'Hier'at the Amsterdam Opera DNO directed by Pierre Audi.

She has participated in many worldpremieres and works with all major Dutch orchestras conducted by e.g. Reinbert de Leeuw, Peter Eötvös and Markus Stenz. A regular guest at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, she recently jumped in for the challenging leadrole of Empress CiXi in the opera 'Hotel de Pékin' by Dutch composer Willem Jeths with only 5 days to learn the part.

Monique Krüs is also a composer.
Key features of her music are great emphasis on melodic lines and a direct and open style with theatrical elements, for which her vast experience as an opera singer proves to be very valuable.

In ‘95 she was asked to make a tune for a TV show, since then music for all kinds of occasions followed. She writes and produces music for TV programmes, for ensemble and more and more for opera/music theatre.
For the station identity of 'Z@ppelin' tv for kids she created songs and soundscapes from 2000-2009 and for AVROTROS Dutch national TV she creates leaders and tunes.
In 2007 she wrote her first opera 'Gods Videotheque' (65', in English) commissioned by Dutch opera company Opera Spanga and performed the soprano leadrole herself.
Her 'Eine Odyssee' (90', in German), music theatre for and by youths at the Impuls Festival für neue Musik in Magdeburg (D) in 2009 was very successful and had it's reprise in 2010. The Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam invited her in 2011 to compose 'Soeraki', a 45 ' family show with members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. A follow-up is planned for February 2016.

Monique Krüs is also a conductor.
Recently her opera 'The Tsar, his wife, her lover and his head' (60', in English) had its premiere in Groningen on 2. August 2013, where she conducted her music for the first time, amongst others at the Amsterdam Grachtenfestival.

She just finished the youth opera 'Anne en Zef' (45', in Dutch) about Anne Frank for the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest and will start to work on a very exciting project: the compulsory work for the 2016 edition of the International Vocal Competition in Den Bosch (NL).