Karen van Schaik

Holder of a degree in architecture from the Technological University of Delft, Karen comes to Brussels to study jazz saxophone. In 2013 she represents the Netherlands within the MetX production European Saxophone Ensemble (ESE), which brought together 12 saxophonists from 12 European countries each year. As a professional musician, she settles permanently in Brussels. 

Holder of a degree in architecture from the Technological University of Delft, Karen comes to Brussels to study jazz saxophone. In 2013 she represents the Netherlands within the MetX production European Saxophone Ensemble (ESE), which brought together 12 saxophonists from 12 European countries each year. As a professional musician, she settles permanently in Brussels. 

After the ESE and her studies in jazz saxophone at the Conservatoire Royale de Bruxelles, the European capital remains the ideal breeding ground for Karen to develop her various artistic passions. She creates and participates in several musical projects and begins practicing the circus discipline Chinese Pole. In September 2022 Karen starts studying jazz composition at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel with Michelino Bisceglia.

MetX carte blanche: HU!

In 2021 Karen receives a carte blanche from MetX, which marks the start of her project HU!, a jazz sextet which challenges gender stereotypes and seeks explanations why women are not (yet) widely represented in the field of jazz. Read more about HU!

Circus company Be Flat

Karen works with the contemporary circus company Be Flat on “LIVING”, a multidisciplinary project that creates site specific performances.

Bazzaria

From 2023 till the summer of 2024, Karen is the composer and co-artistic coordinator of the multidisciplinary fanfare Bazzaria, consisting of wind instrument players, percussionists and contemporary dancers.

Works as a composer/arranger

Karen often receives commissions to compose and arrange for various projects. She is currently working with Michel Hatzigeorgiou, arranging a number of his compositions for harp, strings, woodwinds, lead vocals, choir, and Fender bass. She also composes for Araponga, a jazz septet with a singer that plays the music of Yma Sumac and her own compositions. In Araponga, she sometimes also plays the flute and baritone saxophone.

More information about Karen and her various projects can be found on karenvanschaik.com