Marike van Dijk (1982), was born in a small Dutch town. Her father was an Olympic speed skater, so persistence and striving for higher goals are in her blood. At age 11, her first experiences with the saxophone were purely for fun. She didn’t even know she would be performing professionally one day. She is now close to finishing her second master’s in music. She was familiar with people who played saxophone in rock-type bands on television and found this more exciting than classical orchestra playing. Soon she was able to get into a Bigband, and then a Punkrock group where she performed her first improvised solos. She couldn’t choose what she wanted to study when it came time to make a decision about what to study. She chose to spend a preparatory school year at Utrecht conservatory. She knew she could always get out, so it wasn’t a final decision. She decided to study with Benjamin Herman, her favorite Dutch saxophone musician, as she grew older. She auditioned for the Rotterdam Conservatory’s 2001 faculty, and five years later she graduated with high honors. She felt that this was just the beginning and decided to study a master’s at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. She was able to participate in an exchange program between Amsterdam’s conservatory and New York’s Manhattan School of Music (2007) during her two-years of Amsterdam study. It was a time of great inspiration for Marike, and soon after she graduated in 2008, plans were made to record a debut album. Marike was nominated in the Netherlands for the Deloitte Jazz Talent Award and the Amersfoort Jazz Talent Award. During her studies, her interest in composing grew. She loved the idea of creating something original and new. She was inspired to create enough original music to record her debut album, ‘Patches of Blue. The album, which was released in 2010, was well received by the Dutch Jazz scene. It allowed her to perform at some of Europe’s most prestigious festivals, as well as well-known venues, such the North Sea Jazz festival in Rotterdam. She was chosen to join the European Jazz Orchestra (EJO) in 2011. This orchestra is composed of the best European Jazz musicians under the age of 30. She discovered that she was awarded a scholarship and stipend from the Dutch “Huygens Talent Scholarship Program” to study a master’s at New York University. This degree was intended to help her develop as an improviser and composer, in addition to composition for larger ensembles. This brings us to the present. from www.marikevandijk.com
