The Arboris Duo was founded in 2017 by Maren Bosma (violin) and Niek KleinJan (percussion). They met during the tour of the Dutch Student Chamber Orchestra 2016, where Niek was soloing in the newly composed 'Balance of Power' by Bram Kortekaas. Maren sat next to Niek as concertmaster of the orchestra, and there was an immediate musical click. The two decided to continue as a duo. The Arboris Duo, derived from the Latin word for 'tree'(arbor), stands for musical performances with a different approach. Music belongs to everyone, for everyone - just like nature, for instance. The ensemble, in the unusual combination of violin and percussion, performs all kinds of different repertoire, from contemporary original (commissioned) compositions to adaptations of classical, romantic and baroque repertoire. The Arboris Duo performs music not only in an accessible, original and inventive way, but also at the highest level. For example, at the Stift International Music Festival 2019 they presented a programme of contemporary music with a Beethoven medley including a competition with great success.
Niek KleinJan (Almelo, 1988) is a nationally renowned percussionist. He performs in venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and De Doelen Rotterdam and has been heard and seen on many different radio and TV stations, including Radio 4 and Brava. In 2013 he received his Master's degree cum laude from the ArtEZ Conservatoire in Zwolle, in a year in which he had also studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold with Peter Prommel, Sven Pollkötter and Fumito Nunoya, among others. Niek can regularly be seen as a substitute in top orchestras such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. As a soloist he has performed all over the world on stages in, for instance, Russia, the United States and South America. Niek was a finalist in the Dutch Classical Talent Award 2013, organised by the Royal Concertgebouw and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. With The Percussion Canon Niek tries to put percussion on the map by creating cool video clips of the most challenging compositions for solo percussion. He is also the artistic leader of the Rotterdam percussion collective Havelok.
Dutch-American violinist Maren Bosma (Trenton, New Jersey, 1996) is active in both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as a versatile and much sought-after musician. She works as concertmaster and artistic curator of the Bath Festival Orchestra. She was the primarius of London's Maconchy Quartet for two years, and is the co-founder, producer and leader of the Cat's Cradle Collective. After completing her Bachelor degree with a minor in Theory of Music in 2017, she continued her studies in London at the Royal College of Music as a Joan Weller Scholar and Winifred Law Award Holder. Here, in 2019, she obtained her Master of Music in Performance with distinction in the class of Daniel Rowland and Gaby Lester. Maren has performed at several international music festivals, including IMS Prussia Cove, Aspen Music Festival and School, Thy Chamber Music Festival, and Stift International Music Festival, and she has performed as concertmaster with orchestras such as the RCM Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Symphony Project, and the London Firebird Orchestra. Maren is also active in academia; for example, in 2019 she was the only Masters student invited to be the youngest delegate to present her most recent research at the Audience Research in the Arts Conference in Sheffield. She is also the founder and artistic director of the FAMA Music Festival in London.