Faculty

Dudok String Quartet from Amsterdam

Marie-Louise de Jong started with violin lessons, but became addicted to viola at age 17. She studied in Maastricht with Marc Tooten and in Freiburg with Wolfram Christ. In 2018 she was awarded her Solistendiplom ‘mit Auszeichnung’.
She travelled the world during ten amazing tours as principal violist with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. But when the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam was looking for a new violist in 2017, she decided to take the leap and pursue a full-time chamber music career.

Next to the quartet’s violist, Marie-Louise is the group’s travel agent as well as head of the Friends of the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, our group of private sponsors. She plays a viola built by Jean Baptiste Lefèbvre in Amsterdam around 1760, on generous loan from the Dutch Musical Instrument Foundation (NMF).

David Faber received his first instrument when he was only three years old, although this cello was made from Duplo. He was a cello devotee throughout his youth, but decided to study law when he came out of school. Experiencing the communicative power of music first-hand as a member of the Ricciotti Ensemble was the final trigger that made him decide to study music at the conservatory. He studied cello in Den Haag and Amsterdam with Floris Mijnders and Dmitri Ferschtman.

David is not only cellist of the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, but also the in-house arranger, spokesman at concert and first contact between the quartet and management. David plays a 1850 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume cello, made available to him by the Dutch Musical Instrument Foundation (NMF).

Marleen Wester is an omnivorous string player. Although the violin was always her first love, she enjoys playing a range of other instruments, including but not limited to the viola d’amore and musical saw. She studied the violin in Amsterdam with Lex Korff de Gidts and Peter Brunt. During her studies she developed a big fondness for contemporary and unusal repertoire. As a member of the Ricciotti Ensemble she simultaneously performed before audiences that have limited access to classical music worldwide.

Judith van Driel has been fascinated by music all of her life.As a three year old she imitated her violin-playing sister with two knitting needles and begged her parents for a real violin, which she finally got when she was five years old. That’s where her love for chamber music started. As a kid, she played together with her sisters, and later on with friends from the conservatory. She studied the violin Amsterdam with Kees Koelmans and Peter Brunt, and in Vienna with Günter Pichler of the Alban Berg Quartett. Being concertmaster in the Ricciotti Ensemble offered her the chance to bring live music everywhere and for everyone, and she experienced how live music can touch people. This always remained her biggest motivation for being a musician.

In the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam she plays the violin.Her role in the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam is that of first violinist. She also persues her other hobby: telling stories about the music during concerts, and writing texts for the quartet. Since 2021, Judith is a teacher at the Sweelinck Academie for young talent at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Judith plays a violin built by Francesco Goffriller in 1725, on generous loan from the Dutch Musical Instrument Foundation (NMF).