Izaline Francisca Juanita Calister (born March 9, 1969) is a Dutch-Curaçaoan singer and songwriter.
Growing up in her native Curaçao for eighteen years, Calister moved to
Groningen, the Netherlands, where she studied at the
Prince Claus Conservatoire The Prince Claus Conservatoire ( nl, Prins Claus Conservatorium) is one of the nine conservatoires in the Netherlands. It is a constituent of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen.
Students normally specialize in one instrument wit ...
and continues to live.
Calister's music combines the
Calypso influences of her native Curaçao with
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
, creating a unique blend of music. These influences and musical features consist of rhythms, dances and songs from the island, of which she adapts and composes to accommodate her own unique style.
Singing in her native language of
Papiamentu
Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; nl, Papiaments) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Aruba ...
, Calister feels that as native speaker of such a unique yet widely unexposed language to the international community, a language also of a very select group of users, it is her duty to be an ambassador of her language.
She performs at venues and festivals around the world.
Awards
*
Edison Award
The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed b ...
(2009)
References
External links
Izaline Calister.com
Dutch women singers
Living people
Papiamento-language singers
1969 births
Curaçao women
Dutch jazz singers
Calypsonians
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