About
Born into a musical family, Babette (°17/11/1998) was trained as a classical pianist and cellist from a young age. She started with piano at age 4 taught by her father Alain Craens and Vinciane Meert. At age 14 she was discovered by Heidi Hendrickx and was accepted into her Young Talent Class for pianists. Throughout the years she was taught by Heidi Hendrickx, Levente Kende and Nicolas Callot. Her highschool studies were finished at De! Kunsthumaniora where she played Beethoven's first pianoconcerto with orchestra at Amuz in Antwerp as her graduation-recital.
Babette studied the cello from age 8 with Pieter Stas, and was taught at De! Kunsthumaniora by Ann Van Hecke and Jaap Kruithof (junior).
Babette started her conservatory studies at age 17 at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp where she studied with Sergei Edelman and Eliane Rodrigues. Both bachelor and master were completed with great distinction.
As a part of her masterprogram she collaborated with Muziektheater Transparant and created a production called 'Virginia' with Wouter van Looy, was repetiteur and coach in multiple staged productions with singers and was part of diverse chambermusic-ensembles.
Throughout the years, Babette became laureate of multiple national piano competitions with among them the Steinway Competition where she had second place.
She was also selected for multiple prestigious festivals, Young Talent programs and masterclasses with among them Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Mi-Joo Lee, Bernd Goetzke, Daniel Blumenthal, and many others.
Solo-recitals
With a father who is a classical contemporary composer, Babette was immersed from birth in a world of music, including the modern sounds of the 20th and 21st centuries. This unique heritage has given her a special gift: the ability to harmoniously combine various musical styles and composers in her performances.
Babette is praised by many for her beautiful touché on the keyboard, broad musicality and expressiveness. Her musical journey reflects a unique connection to a rich musical heritage.
Contact for a recital-program:
Lied
Lied is an intimate way of making music where poems are set to music and then performed by a classical singer and a pianist.
Babette is passionate about the Liedgenre next to her love for solo-repertoire. She was introduced to it together with mezzo-soprano Herlinde Van de Straete in the Liedclass of Lucienne van Deyck, Jozef de Beenhouwer and later Aäron Wajnberg. Herlinde and Babette form a set Liedduo since 2018. Throughout the year Babette has also worked with multiple other singers on diverse repertoire.
Since 2022, Babette forms a set Liedduo with soprano Fleur Strijbos. Click here to see their website.