Reinild Mees

Reinild Mees made her name as a song pianist and performed with many renowned singers. She is a warm advocate of the song repertoire of the early 20th century and the work of women composers.

biography

Reinild Mees made her name as a song pianist for many renowned singers and an enthusiastic advocate of the song repertoire of the early 20ste century. She has performed many times in European concert halls such as the Concertgebouw and De Doelen with singers such as Piotr Beczala, Sergei Leiferkus, Konrad Jarnot, Wolfgang Holzmair, Olaf Bär, Amanda Roocroft, Marlis Petersen, Claudia Barainsky, Charlotte Margiono, Claron McFadden, Roberta Alexander, Karin Strobos, Irene Maessen and Hanneke de Wit.

Reinild recorded a large number of CDs with songs by Szymanowski, Schreker, Elgar, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Respighi, among others. In 2004, she won the Szymanowski Award and the award Merit of Polish Culture for releasing Karol Szymanowski's complete song oeuvre on four CDs, which were also awarded the Fryderyk Award (the Polish ‘Edison’). She recorded the complete song oeuvre of Erich Wolfgang Korngold with Konrad Jarnot and Adrianne Pieczonka, and recently released a CD of songs by Edvard Grieg.

Reinild taught for several years at the conservatories of Amsterdam and Utrecht and at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. As artistic director of the 20th-century Song Foundation she founded, she presented programmes such as Goethe's women, The unforgettable songs of Leonard Bernstein, From Alma to Gustav and the Women's Music Marathon. Since 2014, she has also been artistic director of chamber music festival ALBA ROSA VIVA! in which the work of female composers is the common thread. In 2021, Reinild received a royal decoration for her special merits in the field of song and was appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.