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Jacqueline Fontyn was born in Antwerp on December 27, 1930.
Recognizing her early musical talent, her parents entrusted her, shortly after her fifth birthday, to the Russian pedagogue Ignace Bolotine, who gave her daily piano lessons, encouraged her love of improvisation, and of whom she retained wonderful memories.
At 14, she decided to become a composer. After studying music theory with Marcel Quinet, she went to Paris where Max Deutsch introduced her to the world of Schoenberg and initiated her into twelve-tone technique, a language she would use until 1979 – but always in a flexible and very free manner.
In 1956, she also attended Hans Swarowsky’s conducting class at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
From 1963, she taught music theory at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp; in 1970, she was appointed professor of composition at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, a position she held until 1990, while also accepting numerous invitations from universities and conservatories, notably in Europe (Germany, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland), the United States (from New York to San Francisco), the Middle East, Asia (China, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan), and New Zealand. Her catalogue of works comprises more than 100 pieces: orchestral, vocal, instrumental, and chamber music, which is performed worldwide and featured in the programs of prestigious orchestras and festivals.
Among the many distinctions bestowed upon her are the Oscar Espla Prize in Spain and the Arthur Honegger Prize from the Fondation de France, the commission of the Violin Concerto required for the finals of the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in 1976, and two commissions from the Koussevitzky Foundation at the Library of Congress in Washington.
A member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium, Jacqueline Fontyn was granted the title of Baroness by the King in 1993 in recognition of her artistic merits.
A taste for rich harmonic textures, a supple rhythm, and a constantly renewed interest in exploring instrumental resources are all elements of an ever-evolving musical language, whose expressive and poetic dimensions appeal to the listener’s sensitivity and curiosity.