Judith Katrijntje "Trijntje" Oosterhuis (born February 5, 1973) is a Dutch pop and jazz singer.
True artistry is often based on great talent. Mostly though it’s about hard work and personal growth. And that’s exactly what Trijntje Oosterhuis is all about. Her Dutch name, phonetically in English is close to: ‘Train-cha Oyster-house’; and she introduces herself with her first name in English as ‘Train-cha’.
For years Trijntje fronted Total Touch, one of the most popular and best-selling pop groups ever in Dutch musical history. Their unique blend of pop, soul and R&B, with state-of-the-art performance, writing and production by co-founder and her older brother Tjeerd P. Oosterhuis, was something totally unheard of at the time in the Netherlands. It will perhaps come as no surprise that Trijntje and Tjeerd come from a musically endowed family. Father Huub Oosterhuis, a former priest, is the foremost church music lyricist in the Netherlands, and mother Josefien Melief is an extremely gifted and accomplished concert violinist.
The onset of her breakthrough for the wider audience within Holland, was her singing the opening anthem called ‘De Zee’ (The Sea) in front of 60,000 invited guests and for millions of TV-viewers during the official opening ceremony of the brand new soccer stadium in Amsterdam in 1996; soccer being the most popular sports in Holland, hence its widely promoted opening gala on national TV. It was only a small job for her for a couple of 100 guilders at the time; she was wearing a bright shiny red dress, and white scarf – the colours of the AJAX soccer team.. She did it without any nervousness, but because of sound problems where she was standing at the center of the arena field, it almost went totally wrong. But good blessing was on her side and she was shining... this was the first time the Dutch were exposed to Trijntje singing this anthem, and they responded with awe: Who is this singer, who can sing so beautifully? She was since renowned within Holland as ‘The girl from the Amsterdam Arena’..
Selling more than a million records onwards, over a four-year period (1996-1999), carried by two albums called Total Touch and This Way – in a small country where 80.000 is already considered platinum, with hit singles titled Touch Me There, Somebody Else’s Lover and I’ll Say Goodbye – Trijntje could easily have stayed within the group environment and repeated that success all over again. But the draw of artistic creativity proved too strong for her. After a short hiatus, to let the countless awards and rewards sink in, she started performing more personally fulfilling soul and jazz oriented material with a host of national and international jazz and pop stars. It also brought Trijntje to the world-renowned North Sea Jazz festival. Total Touch had already played there twice before, an extremely rare accomplishment for a pop group. This time though, she joined Herbie Hancock on stage for brilliant renditions of Summertime and The Man I Love, and received rave reviews. A tour with a band (under her own name) resulted in Trijntje’s first ever, live solo album, selling platinum plus, and consisting solely of songs by Stevie Wonder, one of the long time musical idols of her childhood. The following year she was back at the North Sea Jazz festival, this time for no less than three different performances, alongside Al Jarreau, with Dutch jazz-giant Michiel Borstlap (1996 Thelonius Monk Composers Award winner) and as part of the super-tight, New Cool Collective big band. In 2003 she was again at the North Sea Jazz festival, almost giving her the status of resident artist. This time she performed alongside Pat Metheny and again Michiel Borstlap.
The new millennium definitely signals the start of a new era for Trijntje. As soon as news broke that Total Touch would not make a third album and that Trijntje would be available as a solo performer, a bidding war started amongst record labels. The winner, EMI Music has formidable international contacts, and enjoys a well-deserved and longstanding reputation of successfully developing Dutch artists. While preparing for her studio debut, Trijntje toured continuously, playing the lucrative theatre circuit with her own band, and often featuring other stars, like Uruguayan guitarist Leonardo Amuedo (who turns up during her career on numerous occasions). It brought her to the most prestigious theaters in the Netherlands, like Rotterdam’s Luxor, the world famous Amsterdam Royal Theater Carré and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
In 2002 Trijntje was invited to sing during the wedding party of the Dutch Crown Prince, Willem Alexander, and his betrothed Princess Maxima in a packed Arena-stadium (including guest Nelson Mandela). It was that very same stadium where her career started. The Dutch people celebrate the Queen’s birthday – ‘Queen’s Day’ – on April 30 every year with one of the biggest street festivals of Europe. It was also in 2002 that Trijntje gave a memorable
