Coen Helfenrath
Coen Helfenrath, the son of a goldsmith and clockmaker, was born in Holland in 1950 to a music-loving family. His mother was a devotional home singer. He took classical piano lessons for two years as a young child, although he preferred playing soccer to practicing his scales.
His interest in the piano and in music revived after high school when he started to play popmusic with multi instrumentalist Marten van Batenburg.
Helfenrath earned a degree in psychology and began a 25-year career as an astrologer. At the same time music became an increasingly important element in his life.
Throughout the 1980s he collaborated extensively with the Dutch musician Rinse Posthuma. They produced a vast amount of popsongs, and also made composition for films, theatre and dance performances. There were lots of sessions with other musicians in the House to Hyde studio’s in that days. It was during this period that Helfenrath developed his improvisational skills.
He is also the originator of the so called Minimal Mantra Music, in which minimal music is used for mantric- and meditational purposes.
His interest in lyrics and poetry also further developed in the 80s.
In 1988 he wrote a song-cycle based on the works of Edgar Allen Po. He also has worked with emerging artists in developing their singing potential and self-expression.
Since the beginning of this century he devoted his musical attention to the creation and production of Ranga albums, and to personal Piano Meditations.