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Annette Kruisbrink

Raga Style

  • Solo/Duo

Annette Kruisbrink's Raga Style captures the essence of Indian ragas through her compositions for classical guitar. Drawing inspiration from improvisation in Indian music, she brings to life works such as Matanga, Ahimsa, and Elegy for an Elephant, blending the free-form nature of ragas with structured classical guitar techniques.

Annette Kruisbrink, who studied classical North Indian music, has created a number of compositions inspired by the Indian ragas. The concept of raga originates from Indian music, where performances are largely based on improvisation, in contrast to Western classical music, which is more fixed in its execution.

The video performance includes compositions such as Matanga (1996) — a tribute to the Dutch composer Ton de Leeuw, Raga Suite (2007) — dedicated to Arlette Ruelens, Ahimsa (2001) — a tribute to Mohandas Karamchand 'Mahatma' Gandhi, Carnatic Intermezzo (2008) — dedicated to Leonardo De Angelis, Raganana (2016) — dedicated to Nandini Sudhir, Elegy for an Elephant (2021) — dedicated to Niels Eikelboom, and Nritya (2016).

Through her deep knowledge of both classical Western music and the vast complexity of Indian music, Annette Kruisbrink offers a fusion of improvisation and structured composition that transcends cultural boundaries, blending the free spirit of ragas with the discipline of the classical guitar.