BIOGRAPHY
Karlijn Langendijk was born in 1995 and grew up in Uitgeest, The Netherlands. Surrounded by acoustic guitar music since birth, she started playing the guitar at the age of 13, inspired by her father. Her music is not simply happy or sad – she composes with numerous intricate shades of emotions that people feel intensely but cannot readily communicate into words. As a guitarist & composer, she is fascinated by many different music genres and cultures and mixes them together into a completely unique style. Her distinctive melodies stir the imagination, akin to music in a film soundtrack only existing in the mind of the listener.
During her live concerts she confidently alternates between dreamy ballads, rhythmical grooves and arrangements of well-known songs. Between performances, she conjures vivid storytelling of her experiences and the many fascinations that have brought her to compose.
She has shared the stage with musicians like Tommy Emmanuel and Peter Finger, and has toured across Europe, China, Japan and India. Together with acoustic guitarist Tim Urbanus, she released her debut duo album “Leap of Faith” in 2015 at the renowned label “Acoustic Music Records”. In November 2015 she won the first prize and the audience prize at the “SAI Acoustic Guitar Competition” in the Czech Republic. She played in the finals of the “Acoustic Guitarist of the Year 2018” competition in London. MusicRadar placed her 6th in the Top 10 of “Acoustic Guitarist of the Year 2020”. In January 2021 she received the sponsor prize at the “European Guitar Award”.
In 2017 Karlijn graduated from the Conservatory in Utrecht (NL) and two years later she finished her Master of Music in “Acoustic Guitar” at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden (DE), where she received lessons from well respected musicians like Thomas Fellow, Reentko Dirks and Stephan Bormann.
Her solo EP “Luna” was released in July 2017 and is an engaging and diverse mix from her solo repertoire that she is playing on tour regularly. In 2018 she cofounded MusiSHEans – a community to support and empower female musicians who should be heard for their music and not be judged on their looks or sex appeal.
In December 2019 she released her new duo guitar album “MERAKI” together with Czech guitarist Ladislav Pazdera, which consists of virtuoso rhythmical pieces and atmospherical ballads.
Her latest album “ATLAS”, also her solo debut, was released in March 2022: 11 original compositions that were inspired by travels throughout different countries, significant life events and personal fascinations.