I am a contemporary-classical composer with a passion for lyrical melodic expression, immersive acoustic sound design, and contemporary techniques, embracing a neo-tonal musical language – seeking to create a sense of revelation and a natural and intuitive musical stream.
The heart of my musical identity is spontaneous lyricism and melodic expressivity and the exploration of sound. Herein, orchestration transcends conventional boundaries, becoming a “fluid acoustic sound design” that captivates the listener’s senses. Composing, to me, is like a canvas, and I relish in the art of crafting tuneful melodies and fluid, gradually transforming chords, sound layers, and textures. The orchestra, with its infinitely intriguing acoustic possibilities, is my favorite palette.
I am keen on using contemporary-classical composition techniques, while embracing a neo-tonal musical language, by creating a harmonious fusion that resonates universally (drawing inspiration from the natural resonances of overtones), invoking an all-encompassing emotional connection and natural breadth in my musical expression.
I strive for my music to be both accessible and unexpected by incorporating a certain ‘grain’—much like in a photograph or on a movie screen—adding an extra emotional layer to the image, or in this case, to the sound. This creates an effect that is intriguing, surprising, and slightly estranging.
This way, my compositions offer a direct and communicative connection with the audience, while seeking to captivate their senses and offering them inspiring sound experiences. I am committed to creating music that communicates directly with listeners and welcomes them to experience a profound emotional, spiritual connection.
Multi-layered sound textures also form a cornerstone of my compositions. With their captivating complexity of simultaneous layers, these sound textures create a certain “poetry of sound” and a trance-inducing “polyphony of sound layers”, using “blurring”, transforming harmonies, rhythmic “décalages” through poly-temporality and renewals of the momentum, often using playful, dance-like rhythms as a primal, ritual force. Whether incantatory or meditative, rhythm guides the listener through a rich tapestry of emotions, with tempo manipulations creating a sense of renewal and surprise. As a composer, I am often inspired by exploring how musical textures can relate to concepts of time, space, and gravity — along with their perceived physical dimensions and illusions — particularly within the frameworks of architecture and cosmology. By borrowing and translating concepts and ideas from these frameworks, and re-evaluating their musical outcomes, my compositions often aim to showcase the relationship between music and other physical phenomena.
In performances, I equally aim to envelop the audience in an immersive “surround sound” experience. Spatial orchestral and choral setups – with sounds swirling in the concert hall, from balconies above and around the audience – add a uniquely captivating dimension to the music. Resonance is at the core of my creative process, from the natural resonance rooted in the overtones of nature to the resonance meticulously woven into my orchestration.
In essence, my mission as a composer is to create music that, first and foremost, conveys emotions and captures the senses, offering a profound and immersive journey that transcends boundaries and resonates with the human experience and spirit.
[Photo credit: Noa Staal Photography]
[Video credit on opening page: “Myriad” (excerpt) by Jeroen D’hoe. Youth Orchestra Flanders, conducted by Stéphane Denève. Courtesy of Youth Orchestra Flanders, August 2019]