Remy van Kesteren: "Threads" try-out show in Amsterdam

photo: Nick Helderman

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren will perform a try-out for his new Threads show about Orpheus and resistance @ Splendor in Amsterdam on September 28. Electronics, loops and lights will be part of it.

» remyvankesteren.com

Remy van Kesteren: on tour in The Netherlands & Belgium

photo: Nick Helderman

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren has one show left to play in the Summer. He will back on the road in The Netherlands and Belgium in the Fall.

Live dates:

• 07/03 Wonderfeel 2026, 's-Graveland, Netherlands
• 10/07 Theater aan de Slinger, Houten, Netherlands
• 10/21 The New Church, Den Haag, Netherlands
• 10/23 Muziekcentrum Enschede, Enschede, Netherlands
• 10/24 Chassé Theater & Cinema Breda, Breda, Netherlands
• 10/30 Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Nijmegen, Netherlands
• 11/04 Parkstad Limburg Theaters, Heerlen, Netherlands
• 11/06 The Storm, Winterswijk, Netherlands
• 11/07 Cultuurcentrum Strombeek Grimbergen, Grimbergen, Belgium
• 11/20 Flint Amersfoort,Amersfoort, Netherlands
• 11/21 CC De Warandepoort, Tervuren, Belgium
• 11/28 Theater De Landing, Amstelveen, Netherlands
• 12/01 Schouwburg Tilburg, Tilburg, Netherlands
• 12/04 Posthuis Theater, Heerenveen, Netherlands
• 12/05 Theater Sneek (Noorderkerkzaal), Sneek, Netherlands
• 12/11 PHIL Haarlem, Haarlem, Netherlands
• 12/17 Theater de Meervaart, Amsterdam, Netherlands

» remyvankesteren.com

HCTF review of Live at Concertlab (Unplugged)

Remy van Kesteren & Nana Adjoa: "Satellites" live @ at Concertlab

Watch harpist Remy van Kesteren and singer-songwriter Nana Adjoa perform Satellites @ Concertlab in Utrecht. The track can be found on the Live at Concertlab (Unplugged) EP.

» remyvankesteren.com
» nanaadjoa.com

Remy van Kesteren & Robin Kester: "The House" live @ at Concertlab

Watch harpist Remy van Kesteren and singer-songwriter Robin Kester perform The House @ Concertlab in Utrecht. The track can be found on the Live at Concertlab (Unplugged) EP.

» remyvankesteren.com
» robinkester.com

Remy van Kesteren: Live at Concertlab (Unplugged)

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren fullfilled a lifelong dream with the release of his Leave What You Know album, on which his music is joined by guitar, drums, electronics, ten vocalists, and the Metropole orchestra to give his compositions a widescreen sound.

Getting a show on the road for a tour is way too expensive, but he did play a selection of the material in an intimate setting at Concertlab in Utrecht. That performance was filmed and taped and six songs are now released on the Live at Concertlab (Unplugged) EP. These stripped down versions blow the studio versions out of the water, with the urgency of making it work right there and then from the get-go. He is going to try to let lightning strike twice when he performs it live at TivoliVredenburg on June 5 next year.

Remy van Kesteren: show in Amsterdam w/ Cape Sleep

photo: Nick Helderman

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren will be playing a show with indie band Cape Sleep @ Zonnehuis in Amsterdam on December 6. They released a collaborative single, Closing Time, last year.

» remyvankesteren.com
» capesleep.com

Remy van Kesteren ft. Cape Sleep: Closing Time

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren wrote the music for Closing Time in 2019, but he felt that something was missing. Kim Janssen (Cape Sleep) helped him out writing the lyrics and handling the vocals and they performed live in 2022, but now all the dots are connected with the cellos of the Metropole Orchestra and backing vocals by singer Tessa Douwstra. When a track has been on the backburner for so long, overthinking and overproducing are not uncommon, but it sounds like it was recorded in the round in a single take. Melancholy captured flawlessly by producer Wannes Salomé.

Remy van Kesteren: Dutch club tour w/ Kim Jansen & Robin Kester

photo: Nick Helderman

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren will be on tour in The Netherlands, hitting the clubs with indie band Cape Sleep members Kim Janssen and Robin Kester. The full band also includes Wannes Salomé (keys) en Annemarie van den Born (drums).

Live dates:

• 12/06 LantarenVenster, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• 12/13 Zonnehuis, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 12/15 SPOT, Groningen, Netherlands
• 12/18 TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands
• 12/19 Doornroosje, Nijmegen, Netherlands

» remyvankesteren.com

HCTF review of Muses.

Remy van Kesteren: "Mirror Maze" video

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren has s unveiled the video for the title track from his new album Mirror Maze (Pact met de Duivel OST): "(...) a match made in heaven, showcasing the possibilities of the harp, mixed with modern technology". The clip was shot, cut & directed by Peet Gelderblom.

Remy van Kesteren: Mirror Maze (Pact met de Duivel OST)

The long wait is over for Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren. After he had released An alternative soundtrack to the motion picture The Red Turtle it was only a matter of time before he would be invited to do a score. He wrote Mirror Maze for Pact met de Duivel ("pact with the devil") is a TV series about the longest running liquidation trial in The Netherlands and he came up with a series of eerie, but sometimes also surprisingly gentle compositions that can stand on their own.

Van Kesteren has been using electronics to compliment the sound of his instrument and by inviting cello player Annie Tangberg, he created the right amount of tension and release for the emotions running high in the courtroom and elsewhere. Mirror Maze is a match made in heaven, showcasing the possibilities of the harp, mixed with modern technology.

Remy van Kesteren: "Perth" live video

Watch Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren perform Bon Iver's Perth at the SAE Institute Amsterdam. The studio version can be found on his Muses album: "Radical rearranging, stacking loops and pushing himself to come up with something special make Muses a covers album that could be mistaken for a collection of originals by the uninitiated. Van Kesteren is single-handedly dragging his harp into the spotlight as an adventurous lead instrument that does not deserve to pigeonholed as solely a soft-spoken tool for incurable romantics."

Live date:

• Amsterdam,, Netherlands @ Het Concertgebouw

» remyvankesteren.com

HCTF review of Muses.

Remy van Kesteren: Muses

photo: Nick Helderman

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren loves a challenge. On his new album Muses, he offers ten radically reinvented interpretations of tracks by his musical heroes. His taste is pretty eclectic, so it makes sense that songs by Radiohead, Muse and Aphex Twin find themselves next to Sibelius and Bon Iver. Van Kesteren leaves the main melody intact most of the time, but he allows himself a lot of leeway when it comes to textures. Play a Kendrick Lamarr fan his version of crown, and chances are that it won't be recognized.

Radical rearranging, stacking loops and pushing himself to come up with something special make Muses a covers album that could be mistaken for a collection of originals by the uninitiated. Van Kesteren is single-handedly dragging his harp into the spotlight as an adventurous lead instrument that does not deserve to pigeonholed as solely a soft-spoken tool for incurable romantics.

Remy van Kesteren: new album "Muses" in August

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren will release his new album Muses on August 25. It contains 10 inspired reinventions of tracks by composers and bands that have inspired him. Van Kesteren casts a wide net: Erik Satie, Muse, Radiohead, Jean Sibelius... Aphex Twin is even honoured twice.

Muses will released via Snowstar Records (vinyl, CD, digital). It is available for pre-order here.

Remy van Kesteren: crown

photo: Nick Helderman

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren has released another reinvention of a track by one of his heroes, tackling Kendrick Lamarr's crown, as part of new album called Muses, due for release on August 25. His ability for stacking loops is in full force on this one, but as a whole it is a gentle excursion that invites many returns.

Remy van Kesteren: avril 14th

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren loves a challenge. His new single avril 14th is a reinvention of Aphex Twin's world hit. He transferred the signature rhythm of the track, but did not settle for a lifeless carbon copy. By giving it a little twist he made it his own.

Remy van Kesteren: "Nowhere" live video

Watch Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren perform Nowhere with the Analogue Robot Orchestra @ November Music in ’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands on November 11, 2023. It is a track from his Places I may have visited, people I may have met Pt. 3 EP. The clip was filmed by Jasper Mol (Bordoo Creations).

Live dates:

• 02/08 CC De Adelberg, Lommel, Belgium
• 03/04 Cultuurcentrum de Werft, Geel, Belgium
• 04/15 De Velinx, Tongeren, Belgium
• 04/16 Muziekcentrum Track Kortrijk, Kortrijk, Belgium
• 04/21 't Ankerpunt, Wichelen, Belgium
• 05/12 Cultuurcentrum Mechelen, Mechelen, Belgium
• 05/13 Werf 44, Schilde, Belgium

» remyvankesteren.com

HCTF review of Places I may have visited, people I may have met Pt. 3.

Remy van Kesteren: Places I may have visited, people I may have met Pt. 3

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren has released Places I may have visited, people I may have met Pt. 3, the third of a four-part EP series, serving as musical diary for his travels. Taking elements from both minimalism and neo-classical he has developed a signature sound that is far more percussive than the music his instrument is usually associated width.

His out-of-the-box approach let him to using a sequenzer and bottles filled with water to add some spice to nowhere, a Buchla Music Easel to replicate the sound percussion makes while riding the highways in the USA (memphi and a techno-flavoured backbeat to create layers of polyrhythmic harp loops (danakil). For the final track, an expanded version of lament from his An alternative soundtrack to the motion picture The Red Turtle album, Van Kesteren goes all out, using all the sounds and gizmos from The Analogue Robot Orchestra. This contraption, built by Jurjen Alkema, serves as his live band and he usually ends his shows with these ten minutes (or more) of musical and technical wizardry.

Remy van Kesteren: danakil

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren has released danakil, the third single from his forthcoming Places I may have visited, people I may have met Pt. 3 EP. It is his most complex track to date. On top of techno-flavoured backbeat he stacked layer upon layer of polyrhythmic harp loops. Inspired by a visit to deepest point on Earth, the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, the notes are gliding on top of each other, just like the three tectonic plates in that area.

Remy van Kesteren: memphis

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren has released memphis, the second single from his forthcoming Places I may have visited, people I may have met Pt. 3 EP. He has set his fond memories of driving on the highways in the States to music, channeling the sounds of the tarmac and the wind and using a Buchla Music Easel as a percussion instrument.

Remy van Kesteren: nowhere

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren has released nowhere, the lead single of his forthcoming Places I may have visited, people I may have met Pt. 3 EP. Using a sequenzer and bottles filled with water to provide the rhythm the track grows bolder and louder. He is going places with this composition, navigating both familiar and uncharted waters that makes him a front runner in the neo-classical scene in the Netherlands.