Karen van Schaik

Hello, I am Karen van Schaik. I am a composer, saxophonist, improviser and multidisciplinary artist. I play and write music for circus, theatre, dance, for my own project “HU!” and for other musical projects.

I also play saxophones and flute in many other musical projects as a 'side human'.

Besides writing and playing music, I draw, paint, write, build and design furniture, design costumes… anything that’s about creating!

I have studied jazz saxophone at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, Architecture at Delft University of Technology and in September 2022 I started studying Jazz Composition with Michelino Bisceglia at Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel.

As an architecture enthousiast, my music often has a visual aspect to it, that is either expressed in the combination with different art forms, or in the underlying concepts of the compositions. 

My music is about human struggles, kindred souls, imprisoning gender stereotypes, anger, love, worries about climate change, self acceptance and finding ones place in this crazy fast moving world.

“I have always partly been living in the colourful world of my imagination. It’s a safe place where I can hide from the ugly and overwhelming outside world. I am always searching for ways to bring parts of this imaginary world to the real world, it is a beautiful way to connect with people and to bring people together.”

More info: https://karenvanschaik.com