Born in Eberswalde (GER), Jansen Folkers lives and works as a professional violin player for classical as well as contemporary music in Hamburg / Germany.
Beginning classical violin training in East Germany at the age of 5 and winning his first competition at 12,
Jansen was chosen to play with the Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra at age 15 for the “Concert of the best” as a competitor in the national violin competition.
One year before receiving his artist diploma at the renowned “Hanns Eisler” music highschool Berlin, JF received the Ferenc Friczay scholarship from the German Symphony Orchestra. Later he played frequently with the Berlin Chamber Orchestra, the Dresden Symphony Orchestra as well as the Hamburg Sinfonietta and was member of the string group “Nathan Quartett”, playing concerts and holding workshops in Germany and Switzerland. Seeking opportunities to increase his range of expression, he played & recorded Tango Argentino with Coco Nelegatti, Mexican music with “Dos Mundos” and took jazz studies with Gary Burton at the Berklee College of Music. With his longtime music partner, guitarist Frank O ́Nell, he performed a crossover chamber music-series in the renowned Konzerthaus Berlin.
Jansen is a founding member of the Hamburg based contemporary string ensemble “Kaiser Quartett”, which was collaborating for many years with canadian pianist and Grammy-winner Chilly Gonzales, performing on his 2015 tour of the album “Chambers” in leading classical venues in Europe and North-America. Recently they started working with english singer Jarvis Cocker, a figurehead of the britpop era, for the theatre project „Room 29“.
The „Kaiser Quartett“ also performs regularly with Grammy-winner Gregory Porter during his concerts in Germany.
In 2019 the „Kaiser Quartett“ released their first self titled solo-album „Kaiser Quartett“ on belgian label PIAS, hitting #1 of the iTunes Classic Charts in 2020.
As a studio-musician, JF has recorded music on so far over 100 movie-, TV and CD- productions, including 15 gold and 7 platinum awarded recordings.
Live performances for/with: Tenor Rolando Villazon, Grammy-winner Gregory Porter & Chilly Gonzales, Jarvis Cocker, actor Matt Damon, The Frank Zappa Band, Richard Clayderman, Lou Bega, The Pet Shop Boys i.a.
JF regularly teaches violin-workshops and gives concerts at the Edna Manley College of Arts in Kingston / Jamaica.
Since 2017, Jansen and Dr. Monika Hein started giving their regular workshop „Melodic Speech“ for the „Creative Society Hamburg“, helping others to better their speech and presentation on stage.
Orchestras / Chamber music groups: Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, German Symphony Orchestra, Dresdner Sinfoniker, Hamburg Soloists, Nathan Quartet i.a.
Venue selection: Philharmonie Berlin (D), Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Royal Festival Hall (GB), Massey Hall, Toronto ( CAN), Philharmonie Paris (FRA), l’Auditorium Conciliazione Rom ( I ) , Auditorio Nacional de Musica Madrid (ESP), Festival Internacional de Santander (ESP) i.a.
Since its opening Folkers has been one of the principal violinists in the most successful musical production of all times, Disneýs “The Lion King“ in Hamburg / Germany.
JF plays a violin created by the Hamburg based luthier Frank Frobeen.