ABOUT THE RESEARCHER

Lies Colman is a versatile Belgian pianist, internationally active as a concert pianist, chamber musician, lied accompanist/répétiteur and teacher, and affiliated with the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp as Artistic Director.

She started with mandolin lessons at age five, followed by piano at age eight, violin at age ten and percussion at age fourteen. From the age of nine, she gave piano recitals and concerts in Belgium and abroad, and was a laureate in various competitions.

Education

After obtaining her Bachelor's degree in Law at the University of Antwerp (B) and subsequently her Master's Degree in Comparative Cultural Science at Ghent University (B), Lies Colman returned to the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, where she had previously been admitted as a Young Talent in the Classical Piano class of Jacques Detiège. In 2006 she obtained her second Master's Degree, specialisation piano, in the classes of Eliane Rodrigues and Robert Groslot, while in parallel studying the violin with Dejan Mijajev and Francis Reusens.

Fascinated by the challenges in Higher Arts Education, she decided to broaden her artistic and academic horizon, and consequently obtained a Level 7 Degree in Strategic Management and Leadership at London School of International Business, and a MBA - Master in Business Administration - at the University of Chichester, focussing on the role of higher arts education institutions on the cultural and societal sustainability of the arts.

Currently she is a PhD Researcher, affiliated with ARIA - Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts, at the University of Antwerp, and CORPoREAL, at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp.

Pianist, performer and creator

As a soloist, chamber musician, lied accompanist and orchestral musician, she performs at all kinds of venues, from intimate halls to international concert venues all over the world. In recent years, she has performed in the Netherlands, France, Norway, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Morocco, Indonesia, South Africa and the Philippines, and can be heard on (inter)national radio and television stations. She released 5 albums with solo repertoire, chamber music and lied.
Her repertoire ranges from Viennese classics over Russian high romance to contemporary creations.

Apart from the more traditional genre, Lies has a special interest in opera and music theatre, interdisciplinary creations and overall out-of-the-box performances. She works or has worked with among others Muziektheater Transparant (B) KASKO (NL), I Solisti del Vento (B), Two Dogs Company (B), LOD Muziektheater (B), TG Raven (NL). Besides performing and acting as répétiteur, she also created or arranged the music for a number of music theatre performances and opera arrentgements.

For more details, information and media, visit Lies' website.

Higher Arts Education

In 2013, Lies Colman started her teaching career as guest professor Classical Piano at her Alma Mater, the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp (BE). In 2015, she took up the position of Artistic Coordinator of the Specific Teacher Training Programme, and in 2016 joined the Artistic Board at the Classical Music Department and the Educational Master Programme.

In 2023 she left these positions to become Director of the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague (NL).

In that same year she took up the ad interim position of the Interfaculty ArtScience at the University of the Arts, The Hague.