BIO
Known to be active in various musical genres, the singer Charlotte Haesen reaches her listeners with her authentic performance and storytelling, her unmistakable timbre and her incredible musicality. She has won the EuJazz Award, the public price at the 28th Concours de la Chanson Alliance Francaise and received several rewards for her videoclips. Being a uniquely versatile artist, Haesen has performed with different formations at festivals and stages in over 15 countries worldwide.
Born in Amsterdam, she has origins from France, The Netherlands and Burundi. She grows up at the border between French speaking Belgium and The Nederlands. She studies jazz singing at the Maastricht Conservatory and the Amsterdam University of the Arts.
Charlotte currently focuses on two main projects: Café des Chansons and her duo with guitar player Philip Breidenbach: Haesen & Breidenbach.
PRESS QUOTES
“Wonderfully intimate and authentic. Exactly the right mix between light seriousness and whimsical humour.”
— Mischa Spel, NRC
“Charlotte Haesen’s singing is extraordinarily impressive, dramatic, cheerful, melancholic and moving.” ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
— Eric Voermans, Het Parool
“A seasoned storyteller reveals herself before your eyes.”
— Pablo Cabenda, De VOLKSKRANT
“Her voice is evocative of a sunbeam peeking playfully through a crevice in a cliff into the darkness of a cave.”
— Joost Galema, NRC
“A versatile singer.” ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
— ZING Magazine
“A fascinating voice.”
— Guido van Oorschot, SENA Performers Magazine
“Good, easy singing, storytelling without exaggerated pathos.”
—Edwin Rutten
PROJECTS
DISCOGRAPHIE
AUTOUR DU MONDE (2019) CHARLOTTE HAESEN & PHILIP BREIDENBACH
Singer Charlotte Haesen and guitarist Philip Breidenbach take the audience on a journey. In 'Autour du monde' the duo moves through different music styles with impressive virtuosity and playful ease. They skillfully combine original compositions and their own arrangements from well-known pieces to a timeless repertoire full of stories and emotions.
On their new EP 'Autour du monde', the Dutch-French-Burundian singer Charlotte Haesen sings in four different languages. Together Charlotte and Philip talk about the struggle to find yourself (Wie ik ben), the magic of loving honesty (The Waterfall) and they interpret one of the biggest Chinese hits 'Alishan' in an innovative way. The lively 'Dis moi pourquoi' opens the EP.
Charlotte Haesen and Philip Breidenbach will release a new album in September 2020, of which this digital EP 'Autour du monde' is the foretaste.
PERLES DE PLUIE (2018) CAFÉ DES CHANSONS ft. CHARLOTTE HAESEN
Chansons are about human experiences, human emotions. About love, deep sadness, the fear of being abandoned, but also about the joy of relationships and love. These chansons invite us to dare to be real people. At first sight, the chansons do not seem particularly deep; they are generally not spiritual; they do not use complicated turns of phrase. They describe the ordinary events of life, the lives of ordinary people. But it is precisely this description of ordinary events and encounters that opens the shutters to reveal the greater themes of life such as selfless love, hope and thankfulness. We understand how these chansons are about our own lives and realize how they can unleash powerful human emotions.
Highlights:
Ne me quitte pas - Jacques Brel (arrangement by Mascha van Nieuwkerk)
Göttingen - Barbara (arrangement by Wijnand van Klaveren)
DU BOUT DES YEUX (2017) CAFÉ DES CHANSONS ft. CHARLOTTE HAESEN
Charlotte Haesen, born in Amsterdam in 1987 and raised in the French-speaking part of Belgium, studied jazz singing at the Amsterdam University of the Arts. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, while singing French chansons at Amsterdam’s Noordermarkt, she was discovered by viola player Odile Torenbeek.
Odile and Charlotte decided to put together a chanson programme anchored in a string quartet ensemble. Leading arrangers then ‘arrayed’ the chansons around Charlotte’s own, particular sound. The next step was the founding of Café des Chansons: Charlotte Haesen plus four musicians from the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.
Highlights:
La Chanson des Vieux Amants - Jacques Brel (arrangement by Wijnand van Klaveren)
Les Moulins de mon coeur - Michel Legrand (featuring Thomas Oliemans)
CAFÉ DES CHANSONS (2016) CAFÉ DES CHANSONS
During her music studies, Charlotte bitterly misses the french language. You can hear Café des Chansons’s first steps on this self-titled debut album where they perform gems of the Chansons repertoire, including the great French classics by figures such as Barbara, Brel, Gainsbourg, Brassens en Piaf in theaters and chamber music stages all over Europe.
The album was self-released but its success was so tremendous it ended up nr. 4 in the Plato Mania world music chart 2017 and secured the band a 3 album deal at the label Challenge Classics.
Highlights:
La vie en rose - Edith Piaf (arrangement by Wijnand van Klaveren)
Avec le temps - Leo Ferré (arrangement by Paul Prenen)
INNER GHOSTS (2014) CHARLOTTE
The album is an ode to Charlotte’s Inner Ghosts, supporting her and playing tricks with her. Her crystal clear voice is surrounded by the Luxembourgisch soundscaper trio Pol Belardi (- ebass), Jerôme Klein (-keys), Aloyse Weyler (- drums).
SALOMÉ (2011) CHARLOTTE HAESEN 5tet
De Parool; ‘The songs of Haesen are original, compact, exciting and melodious.’
Directly after graduating in 2011, Haesen released her first album, named after her sister ‘Salomé’. It was recorded in a small rented house in the Belgian Ardennes. Rumor has it that, due to lack of space, Charlotte had to record her vocal takes in the bathroom. Haesen's 10 original compositions bring together musicians from Curaçao (Vernon Chatlein - Percusion), Iceland (Andri Olafsson - Dubble Bass), Latvia (Matiss Cudars - Guitar & Rudolfs Macats -Piano), Lithuania (Dominykas Vyšniauskas - Trumpet) and Luxembourg (Nils Engel - Drums).
