Melphi
Biography Melphi
Lotte van Drunen
Singer Lotte van Drunen combines her love for the theatre genre with soul and
jazz. She studied at the Fontys Conservatory in Tilburg, and continued her
studies at the jazz and pop department of the ArtEZ Conservatory in Arnhem.
She graduated with honors, and studied with Mathilde Santing, Ronald Douglas
and Sylvie Lane. Lotte is responsible for most of the songwriting of MELPHI.
Lotte is a sought-after singer for lead and backing vocals as well as studio
projects, and has worked with numerous different formations. As a teacher,
Lotte works at the Conservatory in Utrecht (HKU), ArtEZ Conservatory, the
prelimenairy education for the Foundation STA in Apeldoorn, and the Popschool
Amsterdam.
Rogier Telderman
Rogier Telderman distinguishes himself as a pianist and composer by his ability
to connect with his audience and his investigative approach towards music. As
a bandleader of a variety of different ensembles, he embraces the combination
between composition and improvisation. He has already been proclaimed one
of the most promising jazzartists of The Netherlands (2010).
With his modern piano trio - the RT3 with Guus Bakker on double bass and
Belgian drummer Tuur Moens - he explores intuitive interaction within the
boundaries of their compositions, while the elements adventurous, organic and
lyrical remain constant. They will present their interpretation of Moessorgsky’s
Pictures at an Exhibition in the fall of 2014. Together with vibist Vincent
Houdijk, he forms the remarkable piano and vibraphone-duo Houdijk-
Telderman, for which they both compose music that investigates the different
possibilities in sounds for these instruments. Houdijk-Telderman will record
their first album in the summer of 2014.
Rogier is also part of the ensemble TEMKO which presented itself during the
November Music festival and the Dutch tv-show Vrije Geluiden. Rogier also
works as a teacher at the conservatories of both Rotterdam and Tilburg.
Willem van der Krabben
Willem van der Krabben began drumming at the age of nine. After receiving his
high school diploma he was accepted at the Conservatory in Tilburg in 2006.
Willem chose to study at the Music Education department to create a solid and
profound basis. During this studies his passion for drumming continued to
develop. He further improved his skills with Hans van Oosterhout, Frans van
Grinsven and Hans Raaijmakers. After graduating with a 10 out of 10 for his
drums exam in 2010, he received the Jacques de Leeuw award for most
promising arts student.
After this period in Tilburg, Willem decided to pursue his dream and was
accepted at the jazz department of the Conservatory in Amsterdam. Here he
studied with Martijn Vink, Lucas van Merwijk and Marcel Serierse and
graduated in June 2013. Throughout these years, Willem had the privilege to
work with a great variety of artists which gave him the opportunity to develop
as an allround musician. It was in Tilburg that he met pianist Rogier Telderman
and bass player Jurriaan Dekker. Besides MELPHI he is also part of the band
Plastic Soldiers.
Jurriaan Dekker
Jurriaan Dekker studied double bass with Eric van der Westen and Marc van
Rooij at the Conservatory in Tilburg and continued his studies with Hein van de
Geyn and Frans van der Hoeven at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague,
where he obtained his Masters degree in 2008. During his studies he received
the Jacques de Leeuw award and rapidly became a much sought after
bassplayer, both electric and acoustic.
Together with friend and saxophone player Joris Posthumus Jurriaan founded
the nu-bop collective ‘The New Quartet’ (TNQ), with which they toured with
tenor David Murray (US). The quartet recorded an album “The Abyss”, which
was released as the “Joris Posthumus Quartet” by Challenge Records in 2008.
They performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival and were proclaimed Young Vips
of 2010.
Jurriaan played in theatre productions such as Grease, Hairspray, Legally
Blonde and Five Guys Named Moe, as well with the show “See the Music” of
dance company Introdans, and with “Home” by dance company Station Zuid.
In 2010 he performed in the European tour of American singer-songwriter
Daniel Johnston. Later that year he played with Police-drummer Stewart
Copeland at the Tromp Percussion Festival. Besides these activities, Jurriaan is
a teacher at the music school H19 in Oosterhout.