De Maeyer Kende Duo

Belgian violinist Jolente De Maeyer and pianist Nikolaas Kende make up the De Maeyer Kende Duo.

One of the leading Belgian violinists, Jolente De Maeyer, has brought her virtuosity and passionate interpretations to diverse global audiences. She is recognized as an exceptionally gifted artist, reflected in the numerous awards and effusive reviews she has received for both her live performances and recordings. Prizewinner of several international competitions in Portugal (Cardona Competition), Russia (Liana Issakadze Competition) and London (Benjamin Britten Competition), the international career of Jolente started with successful participation at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Performances with all major Belgian orchestras and concert tours in Europe and America followed. She made her debut in Florida, Vermont, California, Washington, D.C. and Canada in 2017. In 2018 she followed her debut in South Africa with an extensive tour. Future engagements include concert tours in Europe, Canada, America, and China. Her recordings include concerti by Saint-Saens and Vieuxtemps with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège with Christian Arming, awarded with an Editors Choice from Diapason, and the CD "Kreutzer sonata" with duo partner Nikolaas Kende, awarded with a Gold Label from Klassiek Centraal.

Nikolaas Kende has been praised for his poetic playing and honest musicality full of passion. Both as a soloist and as a chamber musician he is a highly demanded pianist on international concert stages. Being a winner of several competitions, including the Cantabile competition, EPTA competition and Tenuto competition, his successful participation at the Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (2007) was followed by concerts in most European countries and an American debut (2009) with the 1st piano concerto of Brahms. This debut was well received in the press, “One could almost imagine a young Brahms at the keyboard doing precisely the same thing: more intent on communicating his piece than dazzling listeners with his performance.”