Month: March 2026

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Michel Defourny, born in 1957, is an engineer and a self-taught composer.

He holds a degree in electromechanical engineering and a doctorate in Applied Sciences from the University of Liège. However, alongside his studies and later his career, he has always been drawn to classical music, in which his parents immersed him from a very young age. As he likes to say, he learned to compose music the way a child learns to speak: by listening and experimenting.

As a self-taught composer, he wrote his first compositions during his adolescence and while studying classical guitar at the Grétry Academy in Liège. These short guitar pieces are improvisations that have taken shape through repeated playing. A few years ago, he compiled his best pieces into two collections:

• Ambiances musicales (10 pieces)
• Pièces caractéristiques pour guitare (8 pieces)

which are available on the online sheet music site FreeScore.

Around the age of 20, he took over the direction of a choir, which he led for 17 years, during which time he harmonized and composed numerous pieces for four voices.

He then devoted himself to musical composition more generally, exploring various instruments and ensembles. He was fortunate to cross paths with Danielle Baas, who regularly featured him in the concerts she organized, allowing him to meet many composers and musicians, which allowed him to develop his writing and style. In particular, he has written several hexatonic works.

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Vincent Ghadimi was born in Rocourt on September 14, 1968. It was only in 1986 that he began his musical studies at the Schaerbeek Academy, where he studied piano with Leonardo Anglani. At the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, he obtained first prizes in piano (Vanden Eynden) and chamber music, as well as a higher diploma in advanced solfège. At the Rotterdam Conservatory, in the class of Aquiles Delle-Vigne, he earned a Master of Music diploma in piano and chamber music, and also specialized in four-hand and two-piano performance with Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabri. He then studied with him for three years at the Alfred Cortot School of Music in Paris and also attended masterclasses with Lazar Berman, Zoltan Kocsis, Andrei Nikolsky, and others.

Vincent Ghadimi is also a recipient of two first prizes from international piano competitions (1993: Rotterdam “Doelen”, 1995: Spain “Ibiza International Piano Competition”). His piano recitals in France, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain have earned him high praise from the music press.

In 2005, he founded Ensemble Polyface with harpist Cécile Marichal, which performs regularly in concert. Alongside his piano career, he has composed several works, including “Nutations” for clarinet and piano (published by Alain Van Kerckhoven and recorded by René Gailly), “Jongleurs de Têtes” for solo piano, written for the 2002 Orléans Competition and awarded an honorable mention in its second version at the 2006 TIM Competition, 10 songs for children (in Dutch) with voice and piano accompaniment (published by Lantro Music, www.lantromusic.be), “Mémoires d’enfance,” and several Preludes for piano, also published by Lantro Music.

In 2005, he participated as composer, children’s choir director, and conductor in the children’s opera “Décamero lala” (performed at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels).

He also teaches piano and music theory and is an accompanist at the Dutch-speaking Academy of Brussels.

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Pianist-composer Marc Matthys (born 1956, Ghent) was drawn to music from a young age. As early as 1964, he won a European title at the CEA International Accordion Competition in Paris. After classical music training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in his native Ghent, where he was awarded the Higher Diploma in Piano and Chamber Music, as well as First Prizes in Counterpoint and Fugue, he established himself as an exceptionally versatile musician in diverse musical genres, including classical, jazz, and pop.

He has collaborated with figures such as Frédéric Devreese, Dirk Brossé, Rudolf Werthen, Walter Boeykens, Neeme Järvi, Aga Winska, Henry Raudales, Roby Lakatos, Toots Thielemans, Eddie Daniels, Ali Ryerson, Paquito d’Rivera, Jo Lemaire, Leen Persijn, and Shirley Bassey.

To date, he has released some 30 CDs and two DVDs for various labels,
many of which feature his own compositions.

From 1986 to 2016, he was director of the Kortrijk City Conservatory and, since 1978, has taught at the Ghent University College, Royal Conservatory Department, where he founded the Jazz Department. He has received several awards, including the Grand Prix Humanitaire de France, and has been a laureate of competitions such as Tenuto ’79 (VRT), the Joseph Van Roy Piano Competition (Ghent), the Klara Composition Competition, the Europ’ Jazz Contest, and the Dunkirk Jazz Competition. He has performed in Europe, the USA, Russia, and China.

His quartet, featuring flutist Dirk De Caluwé and others, performed at the Royal Palace for the silver wedding anniversary of King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola. He was also a solo composer at the World Expo in Shanghai and the NFA Convention in Las Vegas. Recordings of his compositions have been released with the VRO, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders, the National Orchestra of Belgium, I Fiamminghi, L’Arco Musicale, Ensemble Walter Boeykens, Big Band Sound, Toots Thielemans, Jo Lemaire, cellist Viviane Spanoghe, pianist André De Groote, flutist Peter Verhoyen, Arco Baleno, the Kugoni Trio, and Convivium Musicum.

Marc Matthys was a visiting professor at Bowling Green State University (Ohio), a board member of Sabam (1995-1999), a founding board member and chairman of ComaV (the Flemish Composers’ Association), a board member of UBC (Union of Belgian Composers), and has served on international juries since 1982, including the Europ’ Jazz Contest, the International Clarinet Competition, and the Adolphe Sax Competition.

Marc Matthys is a Knight in the Order of Leopold and an Officer in the Order of the Crown.

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After completing his Higher Secondary Arts Education, Alain Craens chose to study at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Antwerp, where he earned First Prizes in Composition (A. De Vleeshouwer Prize), Music Theory, Harmony (Paul Gilson Prize), Counterpoint, Fugue, Oboe, English Horn, and Chamber Music.

From 1978 to 1998, he taught oboe, chamber music, and harmony at the Municipal Music Conservatory of Leuven, the State Academy of Antwerp, and the Municipal Music Academy of Antwerp (Ekeren branch), where he served as acting director from 1993 to 1996.

He teaches music notation and arrangement and coordinates the AMV courses at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Antwerp, where he has also served as artistic director since 2001.

As a performing musician, he was the oboe soloist with the orchestra of the Flemish Chamber Opera and the Flemish Chamber Orchestra, and he gave concerts with various ensembles and orchestras at home and abroad.

Alain Craens earned the Paul Gilson Prize for Harmony and the A. De Vleeshouwer Prize upon graduation. He also received the same A. De Vleeshouwer Prize in May 1985 for his composition “Divertimento for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon.” He also received the Cantabile Prize for piano composition twice, in 1989 and 1991.

Alain Craens has received various composition commissions, and his works have been premiered and performed by renowned musicians and ensembles. Many of his compositions are available on CD (e.g., with labels such as Arsis Classics, Phaedra, and De Haske) or recorded for radio.