Verstraeten, Bart

Bart Verstraeten is a pianist, composer, and teacher. He studied piano, cello, organ, and music theory at the academy of his native city, and subsequently obtained master’s degrees in music theory and composition at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Antwerp, where he studied with, among others, Luc Van Hove and Wim Henderickx. At the Conservatory of Ghent he studied piano with Johan Duijck, and took masterclasses with Jonathan Powell, Eliane Rodrigues, and Irene Russo. He currently teaches piano and composition at the academy of Wilrijk and performs as a pianist, both as a soloist and in collaboration with baritone Tristan Faes.

As a composer he gained recognition at an early stage with works such as the piano trio Alla Zingarese and the Trio for flute, viola, and guitar, both of which received awards in 2005. His music is lyrical and rhythmically driven, inspired by late nineteenth-century styles yet shaped by a contemporary perspective and a strong urge for renewal. Verstraeten sees himself as a bridge-builder between tradition and modernity. In addition to piano works — including the collection All’Ungherese — his catalogue comprises choral compositions and chamber music, and he has acquired an international reputation for his mandolin cycle (Persephone, Demeter, Hades, Le vieux moulin). Particularly fruitful was his collaboration with conductor Peter Ickx, for whom he composed several choral works. He has also written song cycles on texts by Pablo Neruda, Rutger Kopland, Émile Verhaeren, and Charles Baudelaire.