Christel Veraart

Composer / Musician / Singer

Christel Veraart is a composer, musician and singer. She has recorded a number of albums, and has received multiple awards. Her music has featured in film, dance and stage productions, and was recently broadcast on acclaimed US radio programs "Hearts of Space" and "Night Tides." The prestigious Rasmuson Foundation called Christel's work "incredibly evocative & well-suited for film and dance".

To name a few of her projects:

• Christel wrote the music for the award winning nature documentary, "The Return of the Salmon", a poetic pairing of music and imagery to tell the story of the salmon's final journey to Alaska's vast wilderness. - A long distance collaboration with Singapore based photographer Tim Plowden.

• Christel wrote the music for "The Child Behind the Eyes", by Israeli playwright Nava Semel. Now in its fourth year, performances are ongoing in Nova Scotia, Alaska and Europe. A collaboration with Alaskan based director Vivian Melde and actress Nava Sarracino.

• Christel wrote the music for Frágil (Des)Conforto which premiered in São Paulo and toured for over a year in Brazil. A long distance collaboration with Brazilian based dance duo and choreographers Marina Salgado and Bruna Petito.

Christel's music is described as ambient, meditative, classical avant-garde. Her compositions range from solo and small ensemble to large orchestra, drawing on a wide variety of musical and cultural influences. Increasingly she is drawn to space music, a sub-genre of ambient music which focuses on texture rather than formal compositional schemes.

From an early age, music was Christel's passion. She trained in classical piano and voice, but it was only when she left Europe to explore South America that she was able to find her own voice. More recently she studied orchestration at Berklee College of Music. She continues to travel extensively, her travels form the core of her inspiration. Her latest album Lotus Dreams was completed during a 12-month sojourn in Indonesia, it explores both eastern and western musical elements.

From 2012-2018 Christel was based in Anchorage, Alaska, where she composed a series of orchestral pieces inspired by the Alaskan landscape, which were ultimately recorded in her albums "Polar Suite" and "Arctic Aquarelles" Her work was supported by grants from the Rasmuson Foundation and the Alaska State Council on the Arts. In 2017 she was awarded the Connie Boochever Fellowship in Musical Composition by the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation.

Now based in Arizona, Christel continues to work from her studio in Sedona. As a multi-lingual world traveler, Christel is very familiar with working internationally, in different time zones, and languages.