Curriculum

Education

High School: Koninklijk Atheneum Brugge (Latin, Modern Languages, Social Sciences)

University: Bachelor History of Art (Musicology) State University Gent
Master African Languages and Culture, State University Gent
Ph.D. in Cognitive Anthropology, halted in 4th year, State University Gent

Post University: Intensive Training Sessions in Marketing en Communication Vlerick School/VDAB, connected project: fundraiser for Nieuwpoort Theatre Ghent
studied Cello with Hans Mannes and worked at the IPEM and IRCAM centers (1977-1979)

Musical Praxis

International career as composer for commercial advertising and fashion shows
Composer for theatre and contemporary dance until 1992

Composer pur-sang from 1992 onwards

Concert hall experience since 1993, both in classical and contemporary music
Artistic advisor to many international music festivals

Director of Megadisc Classics since 2002, being artistic producer since 1993

Languages

Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Russian

Concert Hall Praxis

From 1993 till 2002: De Gele Zaal in Gent, Belgium (while living in Moscow 1992 to 2002)
A 150 seats contemporary music hall.
Introducing most of the Russian composers in Belgium, focusing on music.
Many a Belgian premiere of composers such as Knaifel, Ustvolskaya,
Silvestrov, Chostakovitch…

From 2002 until July 2006: Handelsbeurs in Gent, Belgium
A 400 seats state of the art chamber music concert hall.
Finding new ways to produce and promote classical and contemporary classical music.
Mostly focused on musicians.

Some musicians just had to be put on the map in Belgium, and it was done. To name but a few: Wirsaladze, Kopatchsinkaja, Gabetta, Arcanto and Jerusalem Quartets ...,
and there has been an avalanche of the greater musicians of the world, to big to normally suit the current financial requests: Argerich, Berezovski, Freire, Gutman, Kremer, Sokolov all happily show up, again because music matters.

From January 2007 he became director of the Flanders Festival Brussels, the Biggest, Boldest, and most Beautiful Festival of Belgium. In these three years ticket sales almost tripled due to a fresh and bold communication strategy, of course producing some of the finest and daring concerts again.

From November 2009 he became director of the Ars Musica festival. One of Europe’s leading contemporary music festivals. Reinventing the festival in an international context as yet unseen. Imagine that the audience had fun, and again more as doubled. Did the job until April 2011.
www.arsmusica.be

He then moved on back to Russia for New Horizons in Mariinsky Theatre. Helping out with No Borders Orchestra in the Balkans, the European Saxophone Ensemble in well Europe, and set up a NGO to bring formats like World Wide Music Festival,The Contemporary & Cosmopolitan Music Festival, and ESCAPADES to the world and Brussels.

Guidelines to produced concerts are a reconsideration and regeneration of the format of what a 'classical' concert could/should be, without any form of disrespect whatsoever towards the music or the musician.
He established a very direct and personal contact with the performing artist. That, together with the sound qualities of the halls concerned, the quality of the new audience and a staff working on audience and musicians, makes one able to produce in a more economical way. In his experience, musicians like to go where music matters.

In Flanders Festival Brussels directed the two household names in Belgian musical culture: the KlaraFestival (International Brussels Music Festival) and the European Galas.
The latter being the forefront of the most prestigious in the music scene with concerts of Berliner Philharmoniker, Concertgebouworkest, Philharmonia, Cleveland, Royal Philharmonic, Wiener Philharmoniker… . The first a trendsetting music festival for a big audience. Also here success: audience numbers almost tripled in a period of 3 years. Trendsetting communication and new tools have been developed: Festival on Tour, Village on the Road, Living Room Music, Sporza Musica
http://www.festival-brxl.be/

Other Musical Praxis

General manager Megadisc Classics since 2002, after being the artistic producer since 1993, including the historic Ustvolskaya recordings with Oleg Malov, Silvestrov, Terterian, Sumera, Knaifel and much more, recording with musicians as Argerich, Lubimov, Ural Philharmonic Orchestra…
www.megadisc-classics.com