Artistic team

After studying Slavonic Studies in Leiden, Leenke spent several years studying classical singing at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. She sang with professional ensembles such as Cappella Amsterdam, Kamerkoor Nieuwe Muziek, and Collegium Vocale Gent, where she gained extensive experience in choral singing. Since her conducting debut in 1999, Leenke has led many choirs, initially in an intuitive manner and gradually with increasing professional training. In 2017, Leenke began formal studies in choral conducting, and in 2022 she obtained her Master’s degree at the Utrecht University of the Arts (HKU), where she studied with Rob Vermeulen. Her graduation project was an unconventional one, including the Dutch premiere of the Requiem for Fallen Brothers by the Russian composer Alexander Kastalsky. In this way, Leenke brought together her love of choral music with her interest in Russian and (Church) Slavonic language and culture. At the end of 2023 she presented the Dutch premiere of the Passion week by Maximilian Steinberg. In the summer of 2025 she gave a workshop on Russian music at the Kurt Thomas Course for Choral Conductors, and in 2026 she will conduct the cantata John of Damascus by Sergei Taneyev with Project Choir Gelderland, in a version for choir and strings. Each year, Leenke leads an Eastern Orthodox Vespers with the Utrecht-based Schola Davidica Leenke has been conducting NSKAD since 2022. Together they have performed, among other works, the Requiems by Duruflé and Mozart, the five-part Mass by Byrd, and various gems of Slavic and Baltic choral music from the period 1550 to 1950. With her other Nijmegen-based choir, Koor Surplus, Leenke works on a broad and ambitious repertoire suited to ageing singers, with vocal training forming an important part of the rehearsals. This focus on vocal development also applies to Collegium Utrecht, a chamber choir for which Leenke is preparing a Spanish-language programme as interim conductor, including Palmeri’s Misa Tango. In the past six months, Leenke has worked on a project with the renowned Vocaal Ensemble Coqu, rehearsed the acclaimed chamber choir Cappella Breda, and sang and played in the opera La Révolution de Carmen with Opera2day. Leenke receives vocal coaching from soprano Elma van den Dool.