Started playing the piano at three years old
“A great spirit revealed”
– Leonard Cohen
Bare feet. Bare soul.
Bare music.
In her bare essence, Iris is music. A musician who doesn’t fit within any traditional category, she created her own. Her performances include not only classical music but also rock ‘n roll, glitter, bare feet, and storytelling. They are kinetic, energetic, intimate experiences. Iris Hond has the ability to connect deeply as a human being. With her authentic style, she leaves deep and lasting impressions on her audiences worldwide. Her style is as broad and diverse as her audience. All walks of life attend her concerts, connected by the shared, universal language of music.
Iris performs at classical venues like the Koninklijk Concertgebouw Amsterdam yet feels just as at home in pop venues and on festival stages. As important, she chooses to share her music in places where people don’t have access to live music– prisons, hospitals, and homeless shelters. This community outreach work, accomplished now through The Iris Hond Foundation, started when Iris was 14 years old, continues today, and will continue long into the future.
Currently Iris is working towards the completion of a new album with original music.
1990
1995
Attended first piano lesson
2001
Accepted at the Royal Conservatory The Hague
2009
Opened two shows for Diana Ross at the Gelredome Arnhem
2011
Became the ‘house -pianist’ on a Dutch tv show called ‘De Tiende van Tijl’
2012
Signed a record deal with the prestigious Decca label
2012
Released debut album ‘Iris’ on the Decca Label
2012
Became ambassador of the Dutch ‘Aangenaam Klassiek’ campaign recording Chopin’s first piano concerto. Which sold over 40.000 records
2013
Graduated summa cum laude with a master’s degree at the Royal Conservatory
2013-2016
Started a collaboration with American producer Patrick Leonard in Los Angeles
2015
Was signed to the International Steinway Artists Wall
2016
Released her first album with original music ‘Dear World’ produced by Patrick Leonard
2017
Start ‘Dear World concert tour’
2018
Established Iris Hond Foundation
2018
Composed the original score for Broadway show ‘The Pianist’
2018/2019
Concert tour ‘Bewogen’
2020
Released third album ‘Home’ with corresponding concert tour
2019-2021
Sold out concert tours playing a combination of her own original music and music composed by Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi. Who said about Iris’s playing: “One of the most beautiful performances of my music”
2021
Only pianist in history playing ten successive concerts at the large hall of the Koninklijk Concertgebouw Amsterdam
2022
Main keynote speaker at the first ‘Happiness at work’ conference in the Queen Elizabeth hall Antwerp
2022
Main artist at Pianocity Milan
2022
Concert tour ‘Dichtbij’ (Closer) with new original music
