Françoise Derissen

After getting her degree in classical violin and chamber music at the National school of music (Conservatoire Royal) in Brussels, Françoise developed an increasingly keen interest in jazz. She then started taking lessons with double bass player Jean-Louis Rassinfosse in that same school, which she completed with several intensive courses with first-class jazz violinists Jean-Pierre Catoul and Didier Lockwood. Since 1992, she has performed on many occasions with jazz and jazz-rock bands such as Opium or Triosphère (with Cécile Broché and Antoine Cirri).  With her latest jazz project entitled There is an effel there, she released a CD in 2007. Since then, she has been performing both on Belgian and foreign stages, playing her own compositions on various music events and festivals (e.g. “Open jazz” in Louvain-La-Neuve in 2008, “Gaume jazz” in August 2008 and “Festival de musique européenne” in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in November 2008).
Françoise has also taken part in numerous non-jazz projects, playing –among others– with Christian Merveille, Yann Tiersen, the Liège-based band Autour de Brassens, the so-called Vaches aztèques and Benoît Giaux’s Choraline, La Monnaie’s young people’s choir (for their show entitled “Le 20e siècle en chansons”). She actually performs with the singer Olivier Terwagne
In jazz, she has performed with the jazz manouche band “Jazzy Strings”, and she actually performs in trio (compositions and standarts) with the guitarist Manu Bonetti and Boris Schmidt (Double bass), in trio with the pianist Sabin Todorov and Boris Schmidt (Double bass), and in duo with Marc Van Garsse (double bass) too.
She actually records a new CD in solo with own compositions.
As a guest or session musician, Françoise Derissen has played on many recordings, for example with Christian Merveille, Olivier Terwagne, Jean-Pierre Catoul, Einsturzende Neubauten, Daniel Romeo, Fabrice Alleman, Renaud Lhoest, etc.
She has taught at the Departement Conservatorium van de Hogeschool in Ghent.
In summer 2016, she taught and played violin jazz in the festival “Clazz international” in Arcidosso in Italy.
Since 2001, she has been teaching jazz violin at various music schools, in Marchienne-au-Pont, at the National school of music (Conservatoire royal) in Brussels (since October 2006). She also teaches the violin at the music school in Jumet-Lodelinsart.