Joke Kegel

 “I feel blessed and humble with ears, eyes, and all my other senses to observe the world and serve humanity, making it a better place. As a musician, poet, and artist, I inherited these talents from my parents and ancestors, allowing me to enrich people with contemporary art forms.”

Joke Kegel, or Jo was born September the 10th in 1960 in Amsterdam, studied piano from six years old with Nora Rijkers, (born 1929) and started from her 15th seriously as an artist in painting, in the class of the artist Rinus Duin (1918-1996) ) drawing and photographing portrets and abstract works. 

After studying at different Art-Academies and the Actorsstudio in Amsterdam, playing in different theatre-productions, with directors as Nouchka van Brakel, Maureen Birney and George Isherwood, she studied for 10 years with the Musicologist Edgard Vreuls, didactics, piano, history of music and did all her States Exames in the Netherlands. From 2001-2007 she studied composition at the department ‘Contemporay Music through Non Western Techniques CMtNWT’ at the Conservatory in Amsterdam. She sang soprano for years in the Choir of New Music, with the conductor Huub Kerstens. For 15 years Jo was conductor of the Eilanden Choir, based in Amsterdam and guest conductor of many other choirs. She sang  soprano in the Anglican choir with the conductor Martin Bleek for one year in 2023/2024.

Jo is qualified to teach lessons for piano, composition, analysis and music history, for children as well as adults, beginners and advanced students. She loves to teach singing as well as giving a course in rhythm. She is a teacher for more then 20 years in her studio in Amsterdam and nowadays also in and around Baambrugge. Check and click on her Studio Jokegel for more details.

Between 1990-1995 she worked as guest lecturer at the Leidse Hoge School  in cooperation with Dick Bloem, lecturer at the department of healthcare Conflict Management training. Within that period she also was a permanent employee of the Boddaert Centre in Amsterdam and set up childcare for mothers who wanted to master the Dutch language. 

She writes contemporary compositions for solos, duos, large and small ensembles. Instrumental and multimedia events, as well as theater and film. Over the years she has organized many concerts with her own compositions and works by other composers.  Some of her works are published by Donemus.  More details : Joke Kegel’s CV Link

Jo as music director of her several projects: 

Alternative Faces Multi media production.
Incorporea featuring dance, live music, visual arts and video.
Bare feet, ‘Breath and bare Hands for live bass clarinet solo and video.
Van een leien dak with the recording ensemble work:
Who is counting on a pure symmetric triad within a perfect fourth? 2004, for Flute, Sopranosaxophone, Trumpet, Bass-clarinet, Bassoon, Vibraphone and Timpani, all tuned in the 24 tone-system and a slide show with visual art made by Gerbrig Seidel.

In 2023 Jo was interviewed as one of the first year’s pupils of the high school for the documentary The Kids of the OSB to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bijlmermeer Open School Community, but also to convey the great ideas of the founders to the new generation. The documentary has been shown internally at the OSB School.

Jo loves to work with dancers and participate also in the Body Body Body classes of Katie Duck. They are aimed for performance artists, singers, dancers, actors and musicians who have interest to do multidisciplinary compositions for performances.