I was 10 years old when I made my first composition. My father had taught me how to use Encore 4.0 and I wrote down a kind of clarinet improvisation. At that point, I had no intention whatsoever to become a composer, nor did I became interested in becoming a composer in the following years. Which is strange, given as I continued to make small compositions for clarinet, flute or piano. I started taking harmony lessons when I was 16, and I even went on to study Music Writing (which is basically harmony, counterpoint and fugue). But no composition.
There have been some teachers on the way who recognised I had some talent for composition, and they always encouraged me to write. That way I wrote a few pieces for clarinet and piano, which my own students premiered. And I wrote some short pieces for piano, one of which won (shared) first prize in a competition at the conservatory. It wasn't until my last year of Music Writing, when I was studying fugue, that I even started thinking about studying composition. It was Stravinsky who said that every composer should write fugue, because it is within this strict form that one truly learns how to be creative. And I discovered I had that creativity.
All of a sudden, studying composition seemed the natural next step.The week the inscriptions for the entrance exam were due I was still deciding wether to take that step or not. I finally send in the application, passed the exam, and will finish my composition studies in December 2019. My interest in composing started mainly from a pedagogical point of view. For now, the more serious work limits itself to pieces I am asked to write at the conservatory. I did however write a quartet for four Bb soprano clarinets, Lumen, which was finished in March 2015 and premiered at the conservatory's Chamber Music Week in May 2015.
There have been some teachers on the way who recognised I had some talent for composition, and they always encouraged me to write. That way I wrote a few pieces for clarinet and piano, which my own students premiered. And I wrote some short pieces for piano, one of which won (shared) first prize in a competition at the conservatory. It wasn't until my last year of Music Writing, when I was studying fugue, that I even started thinking about studying composition. It was Stravinsky who said that every composer should write fugue, because it is within this strict form that one truly learns how to be creative. And I discovered I had that creativity.
All of a sudden, studying composition seemed the natural next step.The week the inscriptions for the entrance exam were due I was still deciding wether to take that step or not. I finally send in the application, passed the exam, and will finish my composition studies in December 2019. My interest in composing started mainly from a pedagogical point of view. For now, the more serious work limits itself to pieces I am asked to write at the conservatory. I did however write a quartet for four Bb soprano clarinets, Lumen, which was finished in March 2015 and premiered at the conservatory's Chamber Music Week in May 2015.