Kerani
Introduction
Kerani is a Belgian born composer and arranger, and new-age keyboardist of Hungarian and German descent. Her music has been described as complex, sophisticated, and carefully crafted, with classical influences. Kerani scores music for documentaries, short film and trailers. Until now, she has 5 albums and 6 singles to her name. In 2015, she won the ZMR Music Award for Best Neoclassical New-Age Album with her third album "Arctic Sunrise".
Biography
Born in Belgium as Erika R.T.E. Kele to a Hungarian father and a German mother, Kerani currently lives in the Netherlands where she runs her music recording and production studio, Kerani Music Studio. As a child she often listened to the great classical composers but got fascinated by the music of Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Kraftwerk and Mike Oldfield in the seventies and eighties.
In 1986, at the age of 18, Kerani teamed up with a couple of studio musicians to record the instrumentals Seagullsong and Oblivion. The single got regional airplay and Oblivion became the tune of a breakfast show on Radio 2 Flanders. In this period, she also performed as the lead vocalist and keyboardist in a cover band.
In 2011, Kerani composed the soundtrack for a number of documentary films commissioned by the Historical Society of the Roerstreek in the Netherlands. In the same year, she also released her first album, Wings of Comfort. Her second album, The Journey, was launched exactly one year later. Both recordings received strong airplay. In this period, she also worked for Peaceful Radio, a Dutch internet radio station, where she conducted interviews with various international new-age artists, such as Rodrigo Rodriguez and Sabine van Baaren.
In the run-up to the release of her third album Arctic Sunrise in 2014, Kerani wrote the soundtrack for documentaries that were commissioned by the NWO - the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research. She also re-orchestrated a number of children's songs for an instruction DVD for disabled children, called 't Steyntje zingt. Arctic Sunrise went to #2 on the International Zone Music Reporter Chart for new-age music, got airplay on hundreds of radio stations worldwide, was a Top 10 album on the annual ZMR rankings, and won the ZMR Neo-Classical Album of the Year Award.
In 2015, just a few days before she performed in concert with Terry Oldfield, Kerani launched her fourth concept album, EquilibriumOn this album, she is joined by special guest musicians including concertmaster of the South-Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Wilfred Sassen, violist Joanne Wigmans, cellist Joep Willems and brass musician Jos Gijsen. Some of the musicians are known internationally, such as shakuhachi flute player and recording artist Rodrigo Rodriguez , guitarist Romain van Beek and flutist and vocalist Jan Mertens. The album received a nomination for the Best Neo-Classical New Age Album by the ZMR and is also nominated for Best Electronic Album by One World Music Radio in the UK.
In the spring of 2017, Kerani released her 5th concept album, called Stardust. It is a space-themed album that was recorded with Roermonds Orkest De Symphonie, conducted by Christiaan Janssen, Gemengd Vocaal Ensemble Canto Rinato, conducted by Anton Kropivšek. In total, 60 musicians have participated in this elaborate project, which was lead by executive producer Arno Op den Camp. Kerani's new recording received many accolades from the international press. Stardust held the #1 position in the ZMR International Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart during the months of Juneand July 2017 , which is voted by broadcasters and reviewers worldwide.
Discography
- Wings of Comfort (album 2011)
- The Journey (album 2012)
- Echo of our Souls (single 2013)
- Wonderful Peace/Stralande Jul (single 2013)
- Arctic Sunrise (album 2014)
- The Story of Christmas (single 2014)
- Equilibrium (album 2015)
- Days of Yore (single 2016)
- Stars (single 2016)
- The Little Shepherd's Flute (single 2016)
- Stardust (album 2017)