Not long ago Edith gave a master class at the conservatory in Enschede, the Netherlands. Afterwards, a young guitarist asked, “Isn’t it rather curious? Before, you played in a world famous trio and now you are Herman Van Veen’s accompanist.” “What makes it so wonderful,” Edith said, “is that while I am his guitarist, he is also my singer.” 

From the moment EDITH LEERKES fell in love with the guitar at the age of eleven, she has done practically nothing else but play one. Edith studied in the Netherlands at the Twente Conservatory with Louis Gall and in Spain with Ernesto Bitetti. In 1981 she began playing with various ensembles before joining The Amsterdam Guitar Trio in 1987. As member of that trio she gave concerts all over the world in such venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles and the Casals Hall in Tokyo. She recorded CDs of music by, among others, Bach, Scarlatti, Albeniz, de Falla, Bizet and Prokofiev. In 1992 Edith appeared with the trio as guest performers in a series of Herman Van Veen gala concerts. This was the beginning of a collaboration that led to her changeover in 1998 from The Amsterdam Guitar Trio to the group around Herman van Veen. 

With him she wrote and produced the CD Du bist die Ruh’ and the television program of the same name about Franz Schubert, Colombine and the Voices Thief, a musical story for children, Now and then, an audio biography of Herman Van Veen, and Your kisses are sweeter, an album recorded with the gypsy-jazz Rosenberg Trio.

Together with Olga Franssen she recorded A certain tenderness, a CD of Herman Van Veen songs specially arranged for two guitars. In 2007 she recorded a CD of twelve original pieces written by her for guitar titled, Etude Féminine. In that year she also toured with a solo concert program by the same name throughout the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Belgium.