I
Nynke Laverman

About:

14 April 1980

Born in the Dutch Frisian village Weidum she already showed artistic aspirations at a young age. In 1996 she won an audience award in a regional talent show for the song "Kom Werom." She finished her studies at the School of Performing Arts in Amsterdam in 2002. During her schooling, she sang with Dutch TV-artist Paul de Leeuw during a series of his concerts. Laverman did an internship with a Frisian theatercompany, Tryater, and worked for them after graduation, presenting a musical television program, No Nynke, for Omrop Fryslân, the Frisian regional television station. In 2003, she participated in the Angela Vicario, part of the Oerol Festival on Terschelling, where she discovered the Portugese fado. Set to work with that experience she created a Frisian version of fado with lyrics by Dutch poet J. Slauerhoff. The resulting album ‘Sielesâlt’ let too much critical acclaim. In 2005 she was invited to perform for the Queen. In 2006 she continued on the chosen path for the album ‘De Maisfrou’ (The Cornwoman) based on lyrics by Frisian poet Albertine Soepboer, with whom she spent several months in Mexico. In 2008 she took time for the development of the album for which she undertook a trip to Mongolia. Back home she started to write her own lyrics and composing with guitarist Ward Veenstra. The album ‘Nomade’ meant a resolute style change with its Western pop influences, Frisian fanfare elements and electronics. Orchestral parts were played by City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and some songs were mixed by Icelandic producer/engineer Valgeir Sigurdsson. In 2010 she worked with Noord Nederlandse Dans. Together with choreographer Stephen Shropshire and electronic composer Anne Parlevliet she developed the performance TIDAL, a meeting between voice and body, sound and movement. In the same year she translated the Shakespeare play 'Macbeth' into Frisian for the acting company Tryater.In 2013 she teams up with Spanish guitarist Javier Limón for the more flamenco inspired 'Alter'.

On the web:

- Nynke's website: http://www.nynkelaverman.nl/

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts:

Teresa de Sio (Italy)

What do we think:

DB: Artistically one of the more interesting acts coming from The Netherlands in 21st century. Her mix of fado and dutch/frisian songtradition may not be totally pop, it is very original. But with her third album she widened her spectrum and created a unique pop-universe. Never too shy for an experiment she tries any art-form. Should have large international appeal to fellow Europeans.

Recommended albums:

- Sielesâlt - 2004

- De Maisfrou - 2006

♪♪♪♪ - Nomade - 2009

♪♪♪ - Alter - 2013

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided