Esther Van Hees
Biography Esther Van Hees
Esther van Hees
(Turnhout, 1991) is a Belgian jazz singer who is mainly based in the Netherlands. Her voice was compared by *De Volkskrant* to that of Norah Jones, whilst *Jazzism* detected a hint of Eva Cassidy. In 2025, she won the National Jazz Edison Award for Vocals with her duo Blue Sands, with her imagination and virtuosity cited as key qualities.
As a child, Esther fell in love with jazz and cabaret music through old films and her parents’ records. As a teenager, she was discovered whilst singing in the street and was offered a permanent soloist role with a local big band. At the age of eighteen, she moved to the Netherlands to study jazz singing and in 2013 she won the Conservatorium Talent Award.
In 2025, she won a Jazz Edison in the National Vocal category with her new album *Blue Sands*, which was awarded four stars by *De Volkskrant*. That same year, she performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival with the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw.
Esther also has a passion for Dutch-language ballads and enjoys performing songs by composers such as Ruud Bos and Drs. P. In 2022, she was the soloist in a tribute to Ruud Bos at the Concertgebouw.
Her album ‘Nazomer’, due for release in September 2026, will feature gems from the worlds of cabaret and variety, accompanied by a talented band.
