Duo Fleur Strijbos & Babette Craens

DUO FLEUR STRIJBOS

& BABETTE CRAENS

belgiUM based liedduo

Beaujean Live

"Wonderful to witness the mastery, the joy, the total-in-the-music of these young talents with a great future in Beaujean-Live. The audience was overwhelmed and totally immersed in the story. Thank you and bravi, Fleur Strijbos and Babette Craens for this beautiful 'Night and Dreams' recital!" (translated)

-Organizers Beaujean-Live Antwerp, 27. March 2023

Klankdomein’23

“It was the Liedduo of Fleur Strijbos and Babette Craens that contributed the vocal part during this festival. Preceding this, an earlier romantically inspired song by August De Boeck (1865-1937) with lyrics by poet Charles Van Lerberghe, C’est en toi, bien aimé, was followed by six songs composed by Wilfried Westerlinck himself. Westerlinck (born 1945) composed these pieces 50 years ago for the Festival of Flanders Mechelen, using texts by Paul van Ostaijen, Abeele, Resink, and Van Zeyst. These are short and powerful pieces where articulation is of utmost importance, something that Fleur Strijbos handled very professionally. A strong duo of women on stage, delivering a particularly expressive performance.” (translated)

-Cultuurpakt - Veerle Knoposkaya, 18. October 2023

ABOUT US

Belgian pianist Babette Craens and Belgian soprano Fleur Strijbos share a passion for Lied. They crossed paths during their studies at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, where they both enjoyed the expertise of teachers Lucienne Van Deyck and Jozef De Beenhouwer in the Lied-class, as well as coaching from Aäron Wajnberg (founder of Liedfest Antwerp). Thanks to their deep musical and personal connection, Babette en Fleur decided to form a Liedduo in 2022.

They have been selected for the 'Udo Reinemann Masterclasses Lied Duo 2022-2023' and the semi-final of 'Supernova 2024' – the competition for young Belgian chamber music ensembles by Klara (radio). They perform concerts in Belgium and abroad. In March 2023, they made their debut concert appearance during the 'Young Masters' concert by Beaujean-Live. Since 2024, they are part of ‘Vrienden van het Lied’.

Inspired by their deep appreciation for poetry and lyrical melodies, Babette en Fleur discover shared resonance across every facet of the Lied-repertoire. They enjoy making the repertoire their own, captivating the audience and immersing them in their unique world. As a duo, they receive recognition for the excellence of their performances, leaving a lasting impact on many.

Babette

CRAENS

Pianist

Born into a musical family, Babette Craens started with piano at age 4 taught by her father Alain Craens and Vinciane Meert. At age 14 she was discovered by Heidi Hendrickx and was accepted into her Young Talent Class. Throughout the years she was taught by Heidi Hendrickx, Levente Kende and Nicolas Callot. Her highschool studies were finished at De! Kunsthumaniora where she played Beethoven's first pianoconcerto with orchestra at Amuz in Antwerp as her graduation-recital.

Babette started her conservatory studies at age 17 at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp where she studied with Sergei Edelman and Eliane Rodrigues. Both bachelor and master were completed with great distinction.

As a part of her masterprogram she collaborated with Muziektheater Transparant and created a production called 'Virginia' with Wouter van Looy, was repetiteur and coach in multiple staged productions with singers and was part of diverse chambermusic-ensembles.

Throughout the years, Babette became laureate of multiple national piano competitions with among them the Steinway Competition were she had second place.

She was also selected for multiple prestigious festivals, Young Talent programs and masterclasses with among them Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Mi-Joo Lee, Bernd Goetzke, Daniel Blumenthal, and many others.

Fleur

strijbos

Singer

Belgian soprano Fleur Strijbos received her education from Anne Cambier at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp and Barbara Bonney at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. Fleur completed her master’s recital in Antwerp, earning the highest distinction. Her studies were made possible thanks to the support she received from the Mitialto Foundation, Stichting Robus, and vzw SWUK Vlaanderen.

Among Fleur's notable achievements, in 2024, she is selected as one of 'De Twintigers' (The Twentiers) on Klara, a Belgian radio program that spotlights promising musicians in their twenties. She secured the second prize with the highest distinction at the 'Lions Club National Music Competition for Singers 2022' and the third prize at the 'Mâcon Symphones d'automne - concours de chant 2023' in France. She has also been recognized as a 'Young Talent' at prominent Belgian festivals, including 'Liedfest Antwerp' in 2020, 'Ghent Festival Flanders' in 2021, and 'Young Masters- Middagconcerten Antwerpen vzw' in 2022. In 2021, she attended the 'Puccini Festival Academy,' learning from renowned mentors, which led to her performance as 'Ancella di Turandot I' in “Turandot” and concerts at the 'Puccini Festival 2021' in Italy. Fleur was an Artist in Residence at SWUK Vlaanderen vzw for the years 2022 and 2023.

She has had the privilege of receiving masterclasses from esteemed artists like Malcolm Martineau, Christiane Karg, Gaiva Banzinaite, Josef Wallnig, Renata Scotto, Cesare Scarton, Joseph Middleton, Clarry Bartha, Massimo Iannone, Aaron Wajnberg, and others.

Since 2023, Fleur is an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.

RECORDINGS

rICHARD STRAUSS - DIE NACHT