Vivienne Aerts

Vivienne Aerts is a Dutch vocalist, conductor, and composer with a focus on electronics and multisensory experience design. She has been residing in New York City since 2015 where she has performed at the Blue Note Jazz Club, Jazz Standard, Metropolitan room, and Mezzrow and has shared the stage with both national and international Jazz icons such as Lee Konitz, Kenny Werner, Chris Potter, Peter Erskine, and Florian Weber. Together with her husband, who is a pastry chef, she organizes events and performances under the name Vervool using jazz, haute cuisine, and modern art. Aerts is currently working on her third album, Typuhthâng, a musical exchange with over 100 female musicians to empower female cacao farmers of Virunga State Park Congo. In 2018 she spoke at the National Fulbright conference in Mexico and recorded on Kenny Werner’s Vinyl release Church On Mars with Dave Liebman, Terri Lyne Carrington, and James Genus in 2019.

Aerts studied on a Fulbright at Berklee College of Music with renowned jazz musicians such as Danilo Pérez, Joe Lovano, and John Patitucci, among others. Before moving to America, Aerts trained as a jazz/pop choir conductor and got a bachelor's and a master's degree in clinical psychology. She worked several years as a psychologist, teacher, and conductor of several choirs as well as sang with different bands.

Currently Aerts works as a faculty member for the Berklee Effortless Mastery Institute together with artistic director Kenny Werner and has played a significant role in the development of this program since 2014. The institute focuses on principles put forth in Kenny's book Effortless Mastery and helps students reclaim their inner voice and their connection to music, allowing them to perform on the highest level.