After a long period as a 'music for dance' teacher, improvising pianist and coördinator at the Department for Dance at the Arts College in Amsterdam, she decided that ‘making’ autonomous music was the most important thread which she wanted to follow. During these years, she earned a degree at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with pianist Willem Brons, At age 50, she commenced officially on her career as a composer studying at the Rotterdam Conservatory with Klaas de Vries and instrumentation with Theo Verbey at the Amsterdam Conservatory . She was granted the Composition Prize upon graduation in 1999.