Beate Loonstra is a Dutch harpist based in the city of Utrecht the Netherlands. A versatile musician, holding a masters degree with distinction from HKU Utrechts Conservatorium combined with postgrad studies at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Beate is a member of Herz Ensemble, the contemporary music group of Australian-Dutch composer Kate Moore and performs with the Dutch National Choirs. Her stages vary from intimate halls, churches, monuments and festivals to the large halls of Europe, depending on the type of collaboration. Live performances include national radio and tv broadcasts with her own music and solo improvisations.

In 2020 Beate founded Music in the Making; the largest festival for improvised music around the Netherlands. Beate enjoys the versatility of music and her instrument and she loves the vibrant role the harp can fulfill in all types of music. As a frequent player of the Metropole Orkest, the world’s leading pop & jazz orchestra, she recorded and performed with artists such as Cory Wong, Steve Vai, Richard Bona, Louis Cole, Lalah Hathaway, Mark Lettieri, Vince Mendoza, Miho Hazama and Jules Buckley.

Additionally Beate is programmer of contemporary music at a Dutch stage in Friesland and has been artistic director of the Utrecht Music School for several years. Her workshops and teaching focusses on creating and improvisation and the impact on ones musical voice, message and stage presence.

In her spare time Beate loves riding her Honda motorbike, carrying a little celtic harp with her at the back.

Favorite expressions:
“Hit it like you mean it!” (Simon Dobson, conductor)
“Music is audible love.” (Frans, former pupil)
“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully and more devotedly than ever before.” (Leonard Bernstein, composer – conductor)
“You should find yourself and be true to what you found.” (Frank Bridge, composer – professor of Benjamin Britten)