Biography of Renaud Crols
Renaud Crols is a Belgian musician born on 13 July 1983 in Libramont, Belgium.
A violinist, pianist, and singer, he developed a passion for music at an early age and stands out for his great versatility, exploring classical music as well as jazz, gypsy jazz, and many world music traditions.
Childhood and training
Renaud Crols began playing the piano at around the age of six, then the violin at around nine. From a very young age, he showed a strong interest in making music and pursued a solid classical education.
At the age of seventeen, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Liège, where he earned a first prize in violin, chamber music, and solfège. During his studies, he was already interested in improvisation and jazz, which gradually led him to broaden his musical horizons beyond the classical repertoire.
Moving to Brussels and discovering world music
At the age of twenty-one, he moved to Brussels and began travelling, notably to Romania. These trips marked a turning point in his career: he discovered the traditional music of Eastern Europe and became interested in many world music traditions.
He performed with the renowned Romanian Romani musicians’ group Taraf de Haïdouks, a decisive experience in his artistic development.
At the age of twenty-four, he toured Quebec with a dance group, accompanied in particular by Belgian citharist Bert Cornelis and Indian tabla master Partha Mukherjee. This collaboration strengthened his interest in traditional music and improvisation.
International tour with the show Pitié (2008–2009)
Between December 2008 and July 2009, Renaud Crols took part in the world tour of the show Pitié by Belgian choreographer Alain Platel.
He performed alongside many renowned artists, including Fabrizio Cassol, Stéphane Galland, Michel Hatzigeorgiou, and Magic Malik. The tour travelled through several European countries, as well as Japan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The show was later adapted into a film broadcast by Arte.
Les Violons de Bruxelles
With Renaud Dardenne, Tcha Limberger, Alexandre Tripodi, and Sam Gerstmans, he founded the group Les Violons de Bruxelles, an ensemble inspired by gypsy jazz and Romani music.
The group’s first album was recorded in March 2012 and released in September of the same year.
In December 2012, he travelled to India, to Varanasi, where he studied Indian music with an Indian violin master—an experience that influenced his musical language.
Teaching and workshops
Since the 2010s, Renaud Crols has taught regularly at workshops in violin, piano, jazz, gypsy jazz, and world music, notably as part of the AKDT in Wallonia and workshops linked to the Gaume Jazz Festival.
International collaborations (2016–2019)
In January 2016, he performed in concert with Hungarian violinist Roby Lakatos and French guitarist Biréli Lagrène, on piano and violin.
That same year, with Les Violons de Bruxelles, he travelled to Northampton (Massachusetts, USA) to take part in the Django in June festival, where the group performed in concert and gave masterclasses.
He also took part in numerous recordings and musical projects in a variety of styles:
- jazz and swing (Reverent Juke)
- gypsy jazz
- afro-jazz (Achille Ouattara)
- Balkan music
- Cuban, Brazilian, and Greek music
- Indian music (Nada Trio, Sitardust)
- rock, blues, folk, and bluegrass
The album by the group Sitardust was released in November 2016.
In 2018, he contributed to the album by Burkinabé bassist Achille Ouattara, as well as to that of the group Reverent Juke, very active on the European swing and lindy hop scene.
In 2019, he toured eleven African countries with Achille Ouattara’s project and performed extensively in Europe with Reverent Juke.
That same year, Les Violons de Bruxelles celebrated the release of their second album, Barcelone, recorded in 2016, which was ranked among the ten best jazz albums of the year by The Times.
Activities since 2019
Since 2019, Renaud Crols has pursued a particularly diverse artistic activity, performing in numerous concerts, private events, and festivals in Belgium and abroad. He is also involved in several projects linked to musical theatre and multidisciplinary performance. In particular, he collaborates with director and author Laurent Wanson on the show "La Chute", in which he performs as a pianist.
At the end of 2019, he travelled to Montreal to record educational videos for Denis Chang’s DC School and contributed to the album More than you know with Duved Dunayevski and the Transatlantic Five, alongside singer Tatiana Eva-Marie.
In 2021, with Les Violons de Bruxelles, he took part in the recording of the group’s third album, entitled Périple en la demeure.
Between 2022 and 2023, he took part in the show Molière, the Opera and Women, alongside
actress Carmela Giusto and opera singer Rita Mato Alves, a project combining music, theatre, and stage performance, in which he performs as a pianist and violinist.
In 2023, he toured South Africa with the group Les Violons de Bruxelles. The following year, in 2024, he took part in a tour of Sweden with a gypsy jazz quartet made up of guitarists Adrien Taraga and Garry Nayah, as well as double bassist Victor Foulon.
Alongside his instrumental work on violin and piano, he increasingly develops his singing, which he regularly incorporates into his performances, thereby broadening his artistic range and repertoire, in jazz, song, and world music alike.
He also took part in the creation and tour of the theatre play Les Sœurs Hilton, written and directed by Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq, in which he holds a particularly wide-ranging role as pianist, violinist, and actor. The production has enjoyed significant success and has led to a long run of performances, with nearly a hundred dates since its creation, mainly in France, enabling him to perform in many theatres and festivals.
This period marks a significant evolution in his artistic journey, with an increased presence on theatre and live performance stages, while continuing his work as a concert performer. The integration of singing, acting, and music into hybrid stage forms reflects his constant desire to explore new artistic territories and to connect the different performing arts disciplines.
In 2025, he met the young French guitarist Hugo Guezbar as well as double bassist Esteban Felix, with whom he performed at a private concert in an iconic venue in the city of Florence, alongside other musicians.
In January 2026, he performed in Oslo alongside the young Norwegian guitarist Gustav Skaaret. This highly acclaimed concert received an especially warm welcome from the audience and confirmed Renaud Crols’ growing interest in international collaborations and musical encounters.
Renaud Crols stands out for his great musical freedom and his ability to move between styles. Trained in classical music but deeply influenced by jazz and popular traditions, he has developed an expressive, improvised style, shaped by his travels and encounters.
He continues today to pursue an active career as a musician, performer, and educator, performing regularly in concert and at numerous events.
