Carina Backhuijs

At the HMD of Codarts, Rotterdam I received a classical education. When I finished I thought is was time for a change. There was no education for jazz on the harp but with persistence and the cooperation of the conservatory in Tilburg we made it possible. After receiving a lot of musical knowledge from musician’s like Rembrandt Frerichs, Rosetty de Ruiter and Jeroen van Vliet I got my bachelors degree. During my master education I also developed my skills in pop and blues since it was already a big interest of mine. Age kat and Tim Langedijk where a big inspiration for me.

I am proud to be the first harp player in the Netherlands who now has a bachelor and master degree in jazz music. During my education I worked on a big number of various projects with for example rockacadamy students, bigbands and my own jazztrio. Later on I have developed the jazzduo with bass guitar and solo repertoire. After a crowdfund promotion I was able to finally purchase an electric harp. I named him Freddy. Together with Freddy we play at unexpected venues which is very important to me! How much fun is it to hear easy-listening jazz and popmusic together with my own compositions outside the concerthall?!