ESTHER RISPENS
Instrument:
I’m a singer, soprano. I love playing the
piano but I am really bad at it. Next to this
I have some experience with playing diffe-
rent percussion instruments. My goal is to
play marimba or vibraphone with four sticks!
Studies:
Royal Conservatory Ghent, but still studying
with different international teachers
(Paris & New York)
Other projects:
I am one of the HYOID-singers: a vocal
ensemble for contemporary music. I am the
singer of Goggles duo, together with my dear
friend, amazing percussionist and Nemø-
partner Wim Pelgrims. Furthermore I work as
a freelancer for every interesting project that
comes my way.
Links:
https://www.estherelisabethrispens.com
Goggles website coming soon!
What is your purpose in music?
What motivates you?
As a singer you get very quickly in touch
with the more theatrical side of music.
I would say that I am more of a ‘stage-
person’ than only a musician. I am
motivated by the stories I can tell through
music and playing different roles that are
sometimes very far from your daily life
or your own personality. I love the fact
that through singing and music, I can be
just every person or object or animal,
I want!
What are your hobbies and
passions besides music?
I have been journaling since I was ten
years old. I have a whole library filled
with my notebooks. Whenever I have the
time, I love to go somewhere, have a nice
coffee and put my thoughts about the
world, my life or really small and stupid
things on paper. I also follow an amazing
Feldenkrais class and a contemporary
dance class.
Which other genres do you play or
listen to and how do you incorporate
them in your contemporary music
practice?
Maybe this should be a secret but
I don’t listen that much to music. I am
very fond of the silence at home.
And if I do listen to music, it varies from
reggaeton in the car in the South of France
to female jazz singers like Nina Simone
while cooking to horrible Greek pop music
when I’m at the beach with my Greek and
international friends in Athens to R&B from
the nineties during long car rides.
Next to this, for inspiration and to improve
myself, I listen a lot to classical singers
from Barbara Hannigan to Maria Callas to
Erin Morley or Angela Brower. I feel that
my music making or singing is also
influenced by the visual arts so I love to go
to art exhibitions and discover new (or old)
painters, designers, installation-artists or
performance artists.
What is your most cherished
µNemø anecdote or memory?
The trip to Berlin to meet Oscàr Escudero
& Belenish Moreno-Gil was very special.
We discovered some true allies in them
and I cherish both of them as close friends.
Performing their Flat Time Trilogy was a
lifechanging experience. Next to that, more
generally speaking, I am very fond of the
happy chaos that Nemø sometimes is.
The fact that there are so many big,
adventurous and chaotic ideas is one of
the biggest strengths of the ensemble.
Which book are you taking
with you on a longer trip?
For the moment I am obsessed with
Russian literature. I love the darkness
of it, the complexity of the characters,
the strange humor, ... . On a long trip,
I would for sure take a Dostojevski
I haven’t read yet.
Tell us a secret that nobody knows!
I always (always!) have to cry when I hear
the ritornello in the aria of La Musica in
Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi. For me this
music is the symbol of exquisite beauty.
Maybe it’s a genetic thing because
my father has exactly the same reaction
when he hears this ritornello. But that’s
probably his secret to tell, sorry papa!
I’m a singer, soprano. I love playing the
piano but I am really bad at it. Next to this
I have some experience with playing diffe-
rent percussion instruments. My goal is to
play marimba or vibraphone with four sticks!
Studies:
Royal Conservatory Ghent, but still studying
with different international teachers
(Paris & New York)
Other projects:
I am one of the HYOID-singers: a vocal
ensemble for contemporary music. I am the
singer of Goggles duo, together with my dear
friend, amazing percussionist and Nemø-
partner Wim Pelgrims. Furthermore I work as
a freelancer for every interesting project that
comes my way.
Links:
https://www.estherelisabethrispens.com
Goggles website coming soon!
What is your purpose in music?
What motivates you?
As a singer you get very quickly in touch
with the more theatrical side of music.
I would say that I am more of a ‘stage-
person’ than only a musician. I am
motivated by the stories I can tell through
music and playing different roles that are
sometimes very far from your daily life
or your own personality. I love the fact
that through singing and music, I can be
just every person or object or animal,
I want!
What are your hobbies and
passions besides music?
I have been journaling since I was ten
years old. I have a whole library filled
with my notebooks. Whenever I have the
time, I love to go somewhere, have a nice
coffee and put my thoughts about the
world, my life or really small and stupid
things on paper. I also follow an amazing
Feldenkrais class and a contemporary
dance class.
Which other genres do you play or
listen to and how do you incorporate
them in your contemporary music
practice?
Maybe this should be a secret but
I don’t listen that much to music. I am
very fond of the silence at home.
And if I do listen to music, it varies from
reggaeton in the car in the South of France
to female jazz singers like Nina Simone
while cooking to horrible Greek pop music
when I’m at the beach with my Greek and
international friends in Athens to R&B from
the nineties during long car rides.
Next to this, for inspiration and to improve
myself, I listen a lot to classical singers
from Barbara Hannigan to Maria Callas to
Erin Morley or Angela Brower. I feel that
my music making or singing is also
influenced by the visual arts so I love to go
to art exhibitions and discover new (or old)
painters, designers, installation-artists or
performance artists.
What is your most cherished
µNemø anecdote or memory?
The trip to Berlin to meet Oscàr Escudero
& Belenish Moreno-Gil was very special.
We discovered some true allies in them
and I cherish both of them as close friends.
Performing their Flat Time Trilogy was a
lifechanging experience. Next to that, more
generally speaking, I am very fond of the
happy chaos that Nemø sometimes is.
The fact that there are so many big,
adventurous and chaotic ideas is one of
the biggest strengths of the ensemble.
Which book are you taking
with you on a longer trip?
For the moment I am obsessed with
Russian literature. I love the darkness
of it, the complexity of the characters,
the strange humor, ... . On a long trip,
I would for sure take a Dostojevski
I haven’t read yet.
Tell us a secret that nobody knows!
I always (always!) have to cry when I hear
the ritornello in the aria of La Musica in
Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi. For me this
music is the symbol of exquisite beauty.
Maybe it’s a genetic thing because
my father has exactly the same reaction
when he hears this ritornello. But that’s
probably his secret to tell, sorry papa!