Elske Tinbergen

Elske Tinbergen studied modern cello with Ran Varon and baroque cello with Viola de Hoog, Jaap ter Linden and Lucia Swarts. During her master studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague she specialised in playing the 5 string violoncello piccolo. She also followed several masterclasses with Anner Bijlsma.

For a few years Elske was part of the European Union Baroque Orchestra. She played with Les Musiciens du Louvre (Marc Minkowski) in 'Guilio Cesare', a very successful production of the Nederlandse Opera. She is also part of the Musiciens du Louvre CD-production 'Rameau: une symphonie imaginaire', which won an Edison in 2006.

Elske is a founding member of Duo Tinbergen/Boysen (their first cd 'Baroque music in the Netherlands' came out in 2012) and of the baroque ensemble Giardino Musicale. She is also a member of La Barca Leyden (the cd 'Music at the court of Jülich-Berg' won a 'Gouden Label' in 2012), Musica Poetica and The Northern Consort. She was a prize winner at the International Van Wassenaer Competition.

Critics describe her playing as "intriguing", "alert" and "excellent". The Dutch composer Daan Manneke was truly fascinated by her performance of his 'Tombeau pour Ton de Leeuw' (2015).
Elske is currently working on a dissertation (The cello in the Low Countries in the 17th and 18th centuries) at Leiden University with the help of Professor Ton Koopman.

Elske has a passion for teaching (baroque and modern cello). For the organisation Huismuziek she regularly gives courses for ensemble playing and interpretation of baroque music. Elske is a guest teacher for historical documentation at the Utrecht Conservatory.

Her docARTES doctoral defense took place on June 13, 2018 at Leiden University.