Fresh Ink for Violin

Lonneke van Straalen
Lonneke is one of the most unconventional and enterprising violinists of our time. In 2017, she founded the collective Pynarello to make the experience of classical music more playful, accessible and adventurous. That same year, she received the Prix Madeleine Margot, an award for proven artistic excellence, in which she was praised for connecting people and stretching musical boundaries. In 2023, the collective Pynarello won De Ovatie, the award for the most impressive live classical music performance, presented by the Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors.

With her musical brewery TheDutchBrewhouse, founded in 2024, she enters into unexpected liaisons with artists, writers, composers and musicians. A place where ideas come together, connection grows into something new, and impact is created that reaches beyond art alone. She is a chamber musician and guest concertmaster with various ensembles and orchestras in and outside the Netherlands. Since 2015, Lonneke has been leader of the Aurora Orchestra in London. She shares all her experience, and her love of music and violin playing, with pupils and students during lessons and mentoring sessions.