Soprano Dorine Mortelmans and pianist Barbara Baltussen share a deep love for the art song repertoire. Their programmes bring together beloved classics, hidden gems and works for solo piano, always woven into a carefully conceived theme. By placing music in a broader artistic context, they invite audiences on an immersive journey through music, poetry and emotion.

Alongside her work with the duo, Dorine performs in renowned opera houses and creates her own artistic projects. As a certified yoga teacher, she also draws inspiration from yoga and meditation, integrating these elements into performances.

Barbara has deliberately embraced the many facets of a musical career. She combines teaching with an active concert life as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborative pianist, allowing each discipline to enrich and inform the others.

Their individual artistic paths, together with a friendship built over many years, have created a partnership founded on mutual trust, curiosity and a shared pursuit of artistic excellence. While their personalities are distinct, they inspire and challenge one another instinctively, creating performances that balance refinement with spontaneity and emotional depth.

Although they first met at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, it was only years later, in 2016, that they performed together for the first time. Invited by musicologist Jan Dewilde to present newly discovered works by Spontini at Kasteel d’Ursel, they immediately recognised the natural chemistry between them. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they transformed the idea of a duo into reality through a series of online concerts, laying the foundation for their artistic collaboration.

Their debut programme, Clair de Lune, established a signature approach that remains central to their work today: combining art songs with solo piano repertoire in thoughtfully curated programmes. This was followed by collaborations with Trio Khaldei and programmes including Blumenstrauß and Schumannkreis. Their performance of Blumenstrauß at AMUZ in April 2021 was recorded by Evil Penguin TV and later broadcast on Stingray Classica.

Since returning to the concert stage, the duo has performed throughout Belgium, the Netherlands and France in venues ranging from intimate salons to major festivals, including Zomer van Sint-Pieter, Festival Midis-Minimes, CC Ter Dilft, Zuidrand Klassiek, KPSK, GC Den Egger, Kamermuziek ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Pérouges en Résonances and Porgy & Bess.

With every programme, Dorine and Barbara continue to deepen their artistic dialogue, discovering new repertoire while allowing familiar works to evolve through performance. Their shared ambition remains unchanged: to create concerts that move audiences, spark the imagination and reveal the enduring power of music.