Highlights
Instrumental Music
Music theatre for children
Children’s music theatre production “De Lange Wapper”, in collaboration with Clara Cleymans, Prince K. Appiah, Stijn Saveniers and Casco Phil. Premiered at the Antwerp Spring Festival 2024, bringing a modern twist to the classic Antwerp folk legend.
music theatre for human rights
Following my graduation in 2021, I organized a concert called “TRANSPORT XXI” for the benefit of Amnesty International.
5 Visual Fragments
for guitar and cello
With this piece, I had the honor to receive the first prize in the “Duo Kottos Composition Competition 2020” in London. 5 Visual Fragments for Guitar and Cello converts the ideas of Elsworth Kelly (1923-2015) and Alexander Scriabin (1971-1915) into five musical interpretations. The main idea is a journey from blue to red as two total opposites. In each part I linked one of the following five colours to a specific emotion or atmosphere:
1. Blue: calmness, space, air – misterioso
2. Green: time, nature, peace – con dolcessa
3. Yellow: energy, joy, vigour – energico
4. Orange: force, power, vehemence – maestoso
5. Red: madness, rush, tension – con fuoco
Il pleure
for soprano and piano
Il pleure dans mon cœur
– Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)
Il pleure dans mon cœur
Comme il pleut sur la ville ;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon cœur ?
Ô bruit doux de la pluie
Par terre et sur les toits !
Pour un cœur qui s’ennuie,
Ô le chant de la pluie !
Il pleure sans raison
Dans ce cœur qui s’écœure.
Quoi ! nulle trahison ?…
Ce deuil est sans raison.
C’est bien la pire peine
De ne savoir pourquoi
Sans amour et sans haine
Mon cœur a tant de peine!
Nederlandse vertaling
Er huilt iets in mijn hart
Zoals het regent op de stad;
Wat is dit voor een loomheid
Die doordringt in mijn hart?
O zacht geluid van de regen
Op aarde en op de daken!
Voor een hart dat zich verveelt,
O het lied van de regen!
Het huilt zonder reden
In dit hart dat zich afkeert.
Wat! Geen enkel verraad?…
Dit verdriet is zonder reden.
Dit is wel de grootste pijn:
Niet te weten waarom,
Zonder liefde en zonder haat
Mijn hart zoveel pijn heeft
STATIO
for symphonic orchestra
Soundmine 2019 brought a collaboration with Antwerp Symphony Orchestra; Statio was one of the selected pieces and got broadcasted on Podium 19.
‘Statio’ is the Latin word for ‘anchor’, ‘location’ or ‘standing still’. The immense sound of the brakes of a stopping train is the common thread of the work. Today, the ever-growing excess of stimuli causes an abundance of stress. The stopped train symbolizes rest, leaving behind stress and the feeling of coming home. The stop announcement of the train I take home from Antwerp Central is the central musical theme:
“De L-trein naar Essen van drieëntwintig uur twintig komt zo dadelijk aan op spoor vierentwintig. Deze trein stopt in Antwerpen-Centraal, Antwerpen-Luchtbal, Antwerpen- Noorderdokken, Ekeren, Sint-Mariaburg, Kapellen, Heide, Kijkuit, Kalmthout, Wildert en Essen.”
More Recordings
Choral Music
A Letter to the Moon
For SSA choir and piano
(sab choir and piano, satb choir and piano, ssaattbb choir and piano)
For the fifth edition of the biennial choral festival beVOICEd, organized by Caloroso vzw, I was invited to write a new festival composition. With this work, I join a series of pieces that have been created for the festival since 2017. For the text, my partner Lieze Denckens started from the poetic idea of the sun writing a love letter to the moon.
Just as the sun and the moon trace an arc across the sky, the music follows a similar arch structure: ABCDCBA. The composition begins with a recognizable rising motif that gradually unfolds. At the centre of the work, a short quotation from Seize the Night by Hans Helsen appears, an earlier beVOICEd commission. In this context, the reference takes on a symbolic meaning: it is as if the sun invites the moon to enjoy the night together. After this moment, the music unfolds in mirror form: the motif reverses and descends again. At the same time, the tonal centre shifts to F-sharp, harmonically distant from the opening key of C minor, symbolizing the distance between the two celestial bodies.
A Letter to the Moon – Lieze Denckens
Each night i’m filled with wonder
When the sky grows dark and deep
As silence almost deafening
Rocks our lovely world to sleep
When all the sounds have faded
Knowing you’ll be here soon
I linger in devotion
To see you, dearest moon
No beauty can outshine you
As little as you are
Your gentleness defines you
As bright as blazing stars
No wonder I am joyful
Each time I see your light
You know I’ll gladly be
In your shadow, every night
My moon, my heart
Love,
The sun
Een Nieuwe Lente
For SATB choir
winner composition contest EMJ Neerpelt 2026 category F
For EMJ 2026, my piece A New Spring was chosen as the compulsory work for the F category, for mixed youth choirs. I drew on the opening lines from Mei (“May”) by Dutch poet Herman Gorter (1864–1927), which speak of a new spring and a new sound — a fitting metaphor for renewal, awakening, and creative energy. Gorter’s words express a longing to capture the essence of a moment, just as I hope this choral work invites singers to bring the season to life through sound. With the competition taking place around May 1st 2026, the connection between poetry, music, and the time of year seemed a natural one. I hope this piece allows each choir to explore freshness, color, and imaginative play in their own way.
Eerste 4 regels uit het gedicht Mei
van Herman Gorter (1864-1927)
Een nieuwe lente en een nieuw geluid:
Ik wil dat dit lied klinkt als het gefluit,
Dat ik vaak hoorde voor een zomernacht
In een oud stadje, langs de watergracht
The first four lines from the poem Mei
by Herman Gorter (1864–1927)
A new spring and a new sound:
I want this song to sound like the whistling
That I often heard before a summer night
In an old town, by the canal.
Solitude
for SATB choir and piano
for female choir, violin, saxophone, piano and string quartet
Thanks to this wonderful initiative by Roomservice vzw, Solitude was performed (among many other amazing compositions) by 3 (!) Belgian top ensembles: Kugoni Trio, Desguin Kwartet, and Caloroso, conducted by Jasmien Gys.
Take a walk in the woods and feel the connection between the dancing daffodils, the shining stars and the sounds of nature on this beautiful text by William Wordsworth.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
– William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, or golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
STORM – Lieze Denckens
(original text in Dutch)
nevel waait in vlagen over velden in mijn hoofd
fluistert zachtjes in mijn gedachten
vlieg met me mee
de hoogte in
naar de verre zee
naar de horizon
leg je neer op mijn wolken
laat liggen je hoofd
en laat je dromen de vrije loop
ik ben wild en woest en vrij
ik adem de storm en de wind is van mij
kolkend en kokend
de hemel breekt open
ssss tttt oooo rrrr mmmm
en boven de wolken
in het licht van de zon
daar vlieg ik mee
de hoogte in
naar de verre zee
STORM – Lieze Denckens
(English adaptation)
mist wanders in shadows over fields in my mind
whispers softly where thoughts unwind
fly with me
to skies above
to the distant sea
to infinity
lay your head
on my cloudy pillows
and let your dreams run free and slow down
I am wild and fierce and strong
I breathe the storm and the wind sings my song
churning and burning
the heaven is turning
ssss tttt oooo rrrr mmmm
and high over the clouds
where the sunlight will shine
that’s where I soar
to skies above
to the distant sea
Zindering
for mixed choir and orchestra
A great collaboration with the C-Choirs Ekeren and Symphonic Ensemble Ekeren brought this work for choir and orchestra. The huge amount of passionate music lovers paid tribute to many people, whose stories continue to resonate in our memories. The text was written by the modern rhetorician Stijn De Paepe, who suddenly died at the same time as the composition process. Stijn in turn wrote the poem after the death of the famous conductor Bernard Haitink.
I myself wrote the work in memory of my uncle Eloy in particular. At the time of the performance, Eloy had passed away exactly 1 year ago.
‘Zindering’ for three choirs and orchestra was premiered on 14 and 15 May 2022 by C-Choirs Cantando, Cantilene and Caljenté and Symphonic Ensemble Ekeren in the Sint-Paulus church in Antwerp.
HAITINK – Stijn De Paepe (1979-2022)
Muziek is niet de noten,
maar de stilte tussenin
en het einde dat al doorklinkt
in de tonen van ’t begin.
Muziek is niet de strijkers,
niet de kopers, niet het hout,
niet het slagwerk, maar de klankkleur.
Dialoog in duizendvoud.
Muziek is niet de maestro
die de plak zelfzuchtig zwaait.
Muziek is vuur dat zindert,
licht dat onverminderd laait.
English translation
Music is not the notes
but the silence in between
and the end that already resounds
in the tones of the beginning.
Music is not the strings,
not the brass, not the woods,
not the percussion, but the timbre.
Dialogue a thousandfold.
Music is not the maestro
who’s selfishly waving the stick.
Music is fire that shimmers,
light that blazes unabated.
More Recordings
Music for Visual Media
Project Rebearth
music for a Game
I composed the music for a game set in a post-apocalyptic utopia, where humanity rebuilds society after a global collapse.
The score weaves together a wide spectrum of musical styles, embracing multiple cultures and timelines, pulling the listener simultaneously into the distant past and an imagined future.
Created in collaboration with Program Sam, the music supports a massive online multiplayer experience set on an exact replica of planet Earth. As players grow their towns, trade with others, face global challenges, and uncover the planet’s rich history, the music becomes a living narrative force: echoing memory, resilience, and renewal.
VLAM- Het Tuinaannemer Effect
music for a commercial
Lieze Denckens (my girlfriend) and I had the amazing opportunity to write this music for a commercial and from February 2021 it’s already getting aired on national television in Belgium!
Captain CigArrr
music for a Game
A collaboration with HoWest and Digital Arts & Entertainment brought me the opportunity to write the soundtrack for this awesome game. Put on your pirate hat and enjoy!
Rise And Shine
music for a Feature Film
I had not yet returned from my six Erasmus months in 2019 in Tallin, Estonia when Jeremiah Joél, a third-year Graphic Arts student at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, contacted me. Jeremiah was looking for a composer who could provide the music for his feature film Rise and Shine. After eight months of working on a script and a detailed script (a feasible time schedule, but also a way to take care of all technical requirements), the full film was shot in the summer of 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. All scenes were shot in just a few weeks. His plan is to fine-tune the film in post-production so that it can participate in major festivals.
Apteeker Melchior
MUSIC FOR A FILM MUSIC CONTEST
Submission for the Music Meets Film Tallinn Scoring Competition 2022. Many thanks to Lara Denies for her charmingly delicate nyckelharpa playing, and to the wonderful singers of Cantilene (C-Choirs Ekeren) for the enthusiasm to record all this amazing whistling, whispering, drones, yelling …
In Transit
music for a short film
Collaboration with Karolien Ceulemans, a talented director student at Ritcs Brussels. The story is about two young people connecting in Antwerp.
Speechless
music for a short film
Collaboration with Inias Céleste, student at Thomas More Mechelen, who had the opportunity to shoot a short movie in Hollywood.
Westworld
music for a film music contest
Submission for the Westworld Scoring Competition 2020 from HBO and Spitfire.
Parim Operaator
music for a film music contest
Submission for the Tallinn Music Meets Film Award 2021.
