Marlies van Gangelen

With the aforementioned ensemble, she performed with the likes of Terry Riley, Bill Frisell, Bon Iver, Nils Frahm, Philippe Jaroussky, and Amanda Palmer. s t a r g a z e is a regular guest at venues such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie de Paris, and the Royal Albert Hall in London. The group has toured through the United States, Australia, Taiwan, and New Zealand, and signed a recording contract with Transgressive Records. s t a r g a z e can also be heard on the posthumous album Thanks For The Dance by Leonard Cohen.

After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in classical oboe, Marlies moved to London to pursue a two-year master’s degree at the Guildhall School for Music and Drama (2012). During this course, she focused on artistic and creative processes in various contexts. She developed new skills as a composer, artistic director, improviser, and performer, and won the Voice of Innovation award (2013).

During her time in London, she joined the London Improvisers Orchestra (2013-2014) and became a member of the Africa Express collective, an initiative by Damon Albarn (known from Blur and Gorillaz). In 2014, Marlies graduated from Guildhall with a composition for "deconstructed oboe." The examination committee found the concept behind her project "an exceptionally beautiful idea," and the composition itself was judged as "strong."

Currently, Marlies is focused on creating innovative music theatre performances with Perforator. Together with her partner in crime, musician / inventor Akim Moiseenkov, they develop race cars that are linked to the music of the oboe, a pen that produces lyrical sounds when you write in the air, and balloons that sing when the audience tosses them. Perforator debuted at the Holland Festival in 2016 and has since toured both nationally and internationally.