Contemporary: Annette Kruisbrink

Annette Kruisbrink was born in 1958 in Amsterdam. She learned music at her mother’s knee. As a kid she had piano lessons for a few years and composed a few pieces for this instrument. At the age of twelve she took up the guitar and started playing as an autodidact with Johan B. Kok’s guitar method. When her graduation at high school was die, she decided to study guitar at the Zwolle Conservatory with Pieter van der Staak.

She started composing at am early age on the piano, as a teenager she wrote songs with guitar accompaniment and on the Conservatory, she brought her composition skills at professional level. After her graduation on the guitar she attended the follow-up in composition and many master classes on the subject. With her compositions she often explores other styles, various ensembles and rare instruments like a Concertina and a Carillon.

She covers a wide range with her compositions: from hardcore contemporary to pleasantly modern with at times a wink to traditional forms. Because she, besides being a composer, is also a very active guitarist in solo and ensemble playing, guitar music is tightly rooted in her composition style. She often works on assignment and won various prizes with her compositions. In the mean time, with her over 382 compositions, she is one of the most prolific guitar composers in The Netherlands.