Praised by The New York Times as a “brilliant harpist,” the harp sounds like never before when played by Remy van Kesteren (1989). At the age of five, enchanted by the sound of the instrument in a garden, Remy instantly knew: this was it. He went on to become an internationally acclaimed harpist, winning numerous prizes and competitions, including the world’s largest international harp competition in the United States in 2013, and performing in concert halls all over the world. But when Remy turned 25, he realized: this wasn’t it. Not anymore. Not quite. That realization led, in 2016—the same year he received the Dutch Music Prize—to the release of Tomorrow Eyes, a genre-defying album featuring several original compositions by Remy himself, released by Universal Music/Deutsche Grammophon. He went from performing with world-renowned orchestras to playing clubs and pop festivals—solo, with his band, and with his Analogue Robot Orchestra.
He wanted to find the limits of his instrument—and then stretch them. That’s why he is the only person in the world to play a specially designed harp with 49 strings, the Salvi Réus, co-designed by Remy and funded by the Dutch Musical Instrument Foundation. He also made technical adjustments to his harp that have since been adopted by harp maker Salvi in most of their new concert harps. Additionally, together with instrument builder Joris Beets, he developed a new, more accessible harp—the Harp-E—especially for the children of the Dutch “Leerorkest” (Learning Orchestra). Over 300 of these harps have already been crowdfunded, but the instrument is available to anyone seeking a lower cost of entry. It even comes as a DIY kit—an “IKEA harp” you can assemble with an Allen key.
He performed for 500,000 people during the Night of the Proms tour, composed harp concertos and symphonies for orchestras, and in 2020 he performed as a soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He was featured in his own episode of Klokhuis, where he and his harp took center stage. Since 2020, his sheet music has been available to the public in the form of songbooks. Since forging his own path in 2016, his music has been streamed over 12 million times on Spotify alone, in 182 countries. Remy van Kesteren is also the artistic director of the Dutch Harp Festival, held biennially at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht.
But even with all that success, once again it was time to make a change—something you can hear on his new album, Leave What You Know: It’s his seventh album and, whether by chance or not, it took seven years to make. Remy had multiple demos lying around, unfinished. Until then, his releases had been purely instrumental. But while working on this album, Remy realized he was writing actual songs. Songs that were missing melodies, lyrics, and vocals—yet clearly seemed to call for them.
That’s when he decided to reach out to some of his favorite vocalists, including Robin Kester, Kim Janssen, Pitou, Marcel Veenendaal (DI-RECT), Someone/Tessa Rose Jackson, Luwten, Nana Adjoa, Banji, and Roufaida. He tried to complete the demos with each of them individually. But because every artist had their own unique process, it led to an abundance of new material. Through these collaborations, Remy expanded his approach to music-making and learned a great deal about songwriting.
About the collaborations, Remy says: “I truly believe the most interesting work lies beyond what you already know. And I love a challenge. Collaborating with others—especially on something as personal as a song—was a vulnerable and timid process.” The album brought him new insights and many new friends.
So now, after seven years, Remy releases perhaps the most important album of his life. Because in this creative process, he let go of everything more than ever before—without knowing where it would lead. The process took seven years, in which he embarked on a deeply personal journey, leaving behind the career and stability he once knew. The impact was not only musical but also deeply personal. Musically, it's his most song-focused album to date, set in a band context where, alongside harp, you’ll also hear guitar, drums, and electronics. Personally, the making of the album touched every part of his life—it raised all kinds of questions. Was he giving up his dream life? Or was it only a dream life in the eyes of others? And how do you relate to your environment in such a situation? It was truly a matter of starting over: in music, in parenthood, in relationships, in friendships. Interestingly, many of the guest artists had experienced something similar. Sharing those stories felt almost therapeutic—a release and confirmation that he was on the right path, even without knowing where exactly it would lead. In this way, the album feels both like a closure and a new beginning.
The inspiration for the title Leave What You Know comes from exactly that—letting go of what you know. But also from how we become less open-minded as we age. “As children, we see the world with total openness. As we grow older, we lose that. We decide what fits us, what we like, and what we reject,” says Remy. Curiosity always wins over skepticism for Remy—and that’s what drives him as a soloist: to deviate, to keep looking further, to discover what, in his eyes, must be discovered. “This album is a sign of that personal quest—of what’s inside of me and waiting to come out,” he says.
For Remy, the collaborations aren’t the only thing that sets this album apart. It’s also the first time he has written lyrics. The harp is still present, of course—but not always at the forefront. You can also hear his voice on every track of the album. It’s a whole new playing field for him—these are real songs, with lyrics for the very first time. Remy: “I love how everything in life only truly gains meaning once you experience it. That makes me look forward to growing old and eventually understanding how life, at some point, might finally feel just right.”