BIOGRAPHY

HARRIET KRIJGH, Cello

“Harriet Krijgh’s  grace and warmth touch her audiences as soon as she enters stage.”

Harriet Krijgh performes in the major venues in Europe, North America and Asia with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. 

Harriet is also regular guest at international festivals such as the Heidelberger Frühling, Grafenegg Festival and the Schubertiade Hohenems. As “Prizewinner in Residence” of the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Harriet Krijgh made her mark on the 2019 summer festival edition in about 20 concerts. Ever since she annually returns to this great festival.

Harriet is an enthusiastic chamber musician. She enjoys the strong personal connection when touring with her regular piano partners Magda Amara and Lauma Skride. The annual summer festival Harriet & Friends at Burg Feistritz (Austria) is one of her dearest projects, and will have its 13th edition in 2024.

The 2023-24 season will see Harriet appear with orchestras like the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Dutch Chamber Orchestra (twice in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam), the Hofer Symphoniker, and in a seven concerts tour with the Dutch Youth Orchestra, going to the Musikverein in Vienna amongst other halls. In recital Harriet will go to great halls such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam again.

Harriet’s discography also comprises eight discs, six of them released by Capriccio, featuring music by Kabalevsky, Haydn, Brahms, Rachmaninov as well as several French composers. Harriet also two CD’s for Deutsche Grammophon. The first disc featured works by Vivaldi, recorded with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and their leader Candida Thompson. Silent dreams, an album of songs by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Chausson, Strauss and Glinka was released in September 2021.

From the 2024-25 season Harriet will release two CD’s per season on Capriccio in a project called “Harriet, Bach and Friends”. The project is centered around Bach’s solo suites for cello. Each suite is paired to an iconic chamber music work that reflects the intimate musical and human friendship Harriet shares at Burg Feistritz. Each CD program will also be performed live at multiple worldwide stages. At the end of the 2026-27 “Harriet, Bach and Friends” will be completed.

Harriet performs on a Domenico Montagnana cello (Venice, 1723) whose scroll was made by Stradivarius. The rare instrument is on loan to her by the Prokopp Foundation.