Ina Bottelier (1943- 2022) was a Dutch composer and classical guitarist. Being a very idiosyncratic musician herself, Ina Bottelier’s music is a bridge between tradition and contemporary expression. As she was little known and disappeared early on, I decided to have an interview with the dutch guitarist and composer Annette Kruisbrink who was a close friend of the composer. She told me that “Ina was working on a transcription of her piece Electricon (orig. for 1 guitar) for 2 guitars for my duo (Anido Guitar Duo). Just before she got ill she finished it. I wrote to her husband if he could send the score to us, but he wanted to have it published first. He never contacted me again, because he himself was very sick too after Ina died”.

 
The KunstenaarsCentrumBergen | KCB has published many interesting insights from Ina Bottelier into her career:
Ina Bottelier’s father’s extensive collection of classical records sparked her musical curiosity at an early age. At eleven, she began taking classical guitar lessons at the Volksmuziekschool with Annie Claessens, a musician and composer of Hungarian descent. At the same time, she received drawing and painting lessons in Amsterdam from Josef Verheyen, the talented son of well-known actor Anton Verheyen. Josef was not only an outstanding painter but also an opera singer who performed at La Scala in Milan. During this period, she created numerous portraits, landscapes, and other works in various techniques. Choosing between visual art and music proved difficult, as both meant a great deal to her — but in the end, music prevailed.
At around nineteen, Bottelier began studying classical guitar with Pieter van der Staak at the Conservatory in Zwolle. Van der Staak, a guitarist and composer, opened the door for her to contemporary music, twelve-tone techniques, and a wide range of European and South American musical styles. At the age of twenty, Bottelier was hired as a guitar teacher at the Music School in Zaandam, where she worked for many years. After completing her studies in Zwolle, she continued her education with Antonio Peirera Arias — a distinguished guitarist, conductor, and double bassist from Uruguay, who served as head guitar professor at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Arias possessed exceptionally broad knowledge of repertoire, both general and guitar-specific. He masterfully conveyed stylistic understanding, interpretation, and analytical insight and also recognized and nurtured her own talents. He further encouraged Bottelier to begin composing herself.

 

Her catalogue:

Electricon (Fantasy) (1 guitar)
Water (Fantasy) (1 guitar)
Charango (Bossa Nova) (2 guitars)
Tango (vl guit)
Etendue (Fantasy) (ob guit)
Fete des oiseaux (fl guit) Artemis Duo recording: https://youtu.be/-aVYlQu3ZNc?si=4p7WjY-TzLxdTZ0H
Nocturne (clar guit)
Nocturne (fl guit)
Pavane (fl guit)
4 Poèmes de Ronsard (Cycle on poems by Pierre de Ronsard) (sopr/piano or ten guit)
Question (Poem on text by Rabindranath Tagore) (sopr guit)
Five Images – a song cycle based on 5 cinquains by Adelaide Crapsey
Cycle (for violin)

 

Her works are published by Red Frog Music (a Dutch Publisher).

 

© Emma Baiguera 2025