Renke Van Impe (Aalst °1988)

Renke began her cello studies at the age of eleven at the Academy of Performing Arts in Aalst, in the class of Mieke De Lauré.

In 2004, she was a prize winner at the competition “Jonge Solisten aan Zee” and in 2006 she won the first prize for chamber music with the Trio Parnassia in the competition “Axion Classics” (Pro Civitate).

Renke has performed in various orchestras such as JeMOO; the Mechelen Chamber Orchestra; the Lemmensinstituut Symphony Orchestra; the Arc-en-Ciel Chamber Orchestra; Brabelio, Kammerorchester Aquisgrana (Germany) and the Collectif Musical. She has played as soloist with the Aalst Symphony Orchestra ‘Door Eendracht Groot’ (2007); at the “Arte Amanti” festival (2009) and with the string orchestra “Amadeus” (Violoncelles, Vibrez! - G.Sollima, 2011).

Renke attended master classes with France Springuel, Justus Grimm and Olsi Leka and in 2012 she obtained her cello master’s degree with distinction at the Lemmens Institute with Geert de Bièvre and Martijn Vink. Then she studied chamber music and cello at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Köln (Germany, Standort Aachen), with Hans-Christian Schweiker. In 2013, she graduated in chamber music with the highest distinction.

Renke has taught cello, musical initiation and chamber music at the musical workshop “De Vlier” in Leuven and the academies of Aalst, Vilvoorde, Genk and Ninove. She currently teaches cello initiation at the Academy for Performing Arts in Aalst and teaches cello / bass at Class & Jazz.

Renke has always had a soft spot for “non-classical” projects. In recent years, she has participated, on or under the stage (in the orchestra pit), with the ensembles Fabuleus; Muziektheater Zeeland; Muziektheater Transparant; Cecilia Company; European Philharmonia; Jonas Winterland; the Zomeropera, the Novecento / Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra (Night of the Proms) and various musical theatre productions.