Margriet Sjoerdsma

Biography Margriet Sjoerdsma (05-10-1983, Sittard, NL)

Margriet Sjoerdsma started singing when she was 16 years old. In 2002 she won a final prize at the prestigious Prinses Christina Concours and from then on she started working intensively with Bulgarian pianist/composer Dimitar Bodurov. In 2006, Margriet graduates cum laude at Rotterdam Conservatory and in the same year she becomes a finalist at the Brussels International Young Singers Competition with a.o. jury members Sheila Jordan and David Linx.

June 2006: her first cd ‘With the whisper of a morning’ is released and receives great press reviews and airplay. The cd contains a mixture of pop and jazz with already existing songs and some of their own. Due to the success of ‘With the whisper of a morning’ Sjoerdsma played many festivals and venues, and in 2007 Sjoerdsma was invited to sing at North Sea Jazz Festival.

In 2008 she is invited to sing at The Hague Jazz and there she presented her new cd ‘Bloom’, which was released end of May. ‘Bloom’ contains only originals written by Sjoerdsma and Bodurov. Reviews are very positive.

From September 2008 till June 2009 Sjoerdsma will tour the Netherlands with her own show. She ends the tour in the world famous Amsterdam Concertgebouw. She plays with her own band with young international musicians.

In 2009: fashion magazine Elle introduces her as the most promising vocalist and in 2008 & 2009 2 songs of Sjoerdsma are included in the compilation Aangenaam Jazz, which sold more than 40.000 copies. In 2010 a dream comes true, she is invited to sing at the Kleine Komedie in Amsterdam.

Furthermore: In 2009 she tours with pianist and Dimitar Bodurov in Bulgaria (Smolyan Jazz Festival, Varna International Jazz Festival) and in 2010 she tours with guitarist Ratko Zjaca (Bale Jazzfestival) in Kroatia. Furthermore you can hear her sing at Rembrandt Frerichs’ cd ‘Ordem e Progresso’ and she sang with Nueva Manteca in the Bimhuis in Amsterdam. In 2011 she tours in South-Korea.

September 2011: Margriets third album called ‘Drawing Circles’ will be released. The album is different from her two previous albums ‘With the whisper of a morning’ (2006) and ‘Bloom’ (2008), where mostly the piano stands out as an accompanying instrument. ‘I really wanted to make an album where the guitar would be very present and I wanted to focus on writing the songs and lyrics. From my childhood on, I have been listening to singersongwriters like Jeff Buckley, Sheryl Crow, Joni Mitchell and Radiohead. so it felt very natural to make that switch.’

Sjoerdsma writes the songs on her own or collaborates with musicians like Maarten van Damme (Stevie Ann), JanPeter Hoekstra (Krezip), Louk Boudesteijn and Martijn van Agt. ‘They inspired me to just get behind the piano and try new things out.’

The album contains 12 songs and is pretty diverse. This time Sjoerdsma wrote all the lyrics herself. ‘ I really wanted to sing my own lyrics and I had a lot of ideas. Writing the lyrics myself makes the ‘Drawing Circles’ personal even when they’re not about me. People around me inspire me and I can use their stories to make a brand new story.’
How can you describe the album? ‘A personal album, diverse: it covers the spectrum from gentle songs like ‘Drawing circles’ and ‘All the way’ to the energetic ‘Monkey Monday’. This record I just let go and did a lot myself. That feels good.’

May 2010 she approaches Werner Pensaert (K’s Choice) to produce the record and it becomes a fruitful cooperation. ‘I just knew he was the right man for this cd. We agreed on so many points concerning the music, the sound, the songs. And if we didn’t agree, we’d agree later on anyhow.’ The musicians playing on the cd are Dimitar Bodurov, Martijn van Agt, Cord Heineking, Pim Dros, Louk Boudesteijn, Bert Gielen, Nina Babet, Sep François. ‘The right combination of jazz- and popmusicians, that was what I was looking for. I am very proud of what we recorded together, feels like coming home.’

In 2012-2013 she will do a theatre tour introducing her new cd ‘Drawing Circles’

www.margrietsjoerdsma.com
www.facebook.com/margrietsjoerdsma

QUOTES:

‘With the whisper of a morning’ (2006):
‘Enjoy sparkling arrangements. A convincing merge between jazz and pop’ Ton Ouwehand Tubantia 11-09-06
Margriet Sjoerdsma moves with flair through the eleven songs. And, boy, can she swing! Listen to her own song “Carry On”. Great debut! Coen de Jonge Jazzism Autumn 2006
‘They all know how to make silence speak.
Sensitivity is one of her trademarks and that of her musicians.’ Financieel Dagblad 19 -10-08 Hans Dijkstal

‘Bloom’ (2008):
‘Nearly all songs have a touch of Bacharach and that is a huge compliment. Not only the compositions by Margriet Sjoerdsma herself but also those of her incredibly capable pianist Dimitar Bodurov are gems.’ Ruud Meijer, HP de Tijd, mei 2008

‘Her pianist and right hand Dimitar Bodurov and the famous top producer Michael Hoogeb