Composer Camiel Jansen comes from a musical background. Music has always been there for him, as has storytelling and the want to present ideas on a stage.
After graduating jazz upright bass and composition from Codarts, Academy of the Arts in Rotterdam, he studied at the Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium in Kopenhagen and at the Conservatory in Amsterdam until 2015.
Camiel stayed in Amsterdam and started to write music for ensembles. The most notable of which is the ensemble Ikarai, in which he also plays. His style leans on contemporary music, but has a lot of influences of classical, jazz and folk music, too.
Camiel always composes based on a theme, narrative or story. In 2019, the Grachtenfestival Amsterdam asked him to become their New Maker (‘nieuwe maker’), producing and composing two big pieces for large ensembles and orchestras. In 2022, his symphonic piece ‘De Stad’, an animation film in which the music dictates the complete storyline will premiere at the festival.
The ensemble Ikarai, in which Camiel is a composing member, was selected to be the Dutch representative to the 12Points Festival in 2019, the premiere of his latest piece MARS: was critically acclaimed in the Dutch press and his music has been performed throughout The Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Germany and China.
Besides composing and playing music, Camiel also presents a weekly radioshow on NPO kx.fm and gives talks about creativity to organisations and student audiences.