"Black holes are where God divided by zero." 
- Albert Einstein (1879– 1955)

Originally composed in the occasion of my master exam at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. Main teachers: Wim Henderickx and Bram Van Camp. 

For 'Ensemble XXI', conducted by Frank Agsteribbe:
Flute - Francisco Rojas Huertas
Bas clarinet - Pablo Aranda Rico
Soprano saxophone - Balázs Klacsák
Viola - Ana Sofia Rodrigues Sousa
Cello - Yuri Kang
Piano- Angel Alvaro
Percussion - Javier Poveda

Event Horizon (for 7 musicians, 2021)

A collaboration with HoWest and Digital Arts & Entertainment brought me the opportunity to write the soundtrack for this awesome game. Put on your pirate head and enjoy! 

Check it out on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1856970/Captain_CigArrr/

Kill The Twins!

Captain CigArrr

Inhale The Waves

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, which he had been working on for two years at the time.

What started as a “crazy idea” quickly evolved into a two-year project for Jeremiah (and it’s not finished yet). He is not a real director and has never received any film training. Directing Rise and Shine arose out of his interest in film. When Jeremiah was watching a regional film in his home country of South Africa, he thought he could make it happen, too, but with a much lower budget. When he announced this idea to his friends and family, everyone was eager to support him. 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 such as Cannes Film Festival, Film Fest Gent, BFI London Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Raindance Film Festival.

The Rooftop Bar

The Audition

Juice's Theme

Waking Up

The Dream

Big Bang

A collection of my participations of a project organised by het HERMESensemble, called "The Times They Are A-Changin'", a forum for young composers. I started writing for this ensemble at an age of 13 years old. The four times I participated has given me much of experience and now, on an age of 18 years old, I started studying composition at the conservatory in Antwerp.

The Times They Are A-Changin' - Noah Senden

Train To Memories (2013-2014)

L'Étang De Monet (2012-2013)

In this piece, I tried to characterise a cat on different perspectives. Sleeping, eating, playing, hunting ... To do that, I made 3 miniatures for solo clarinet, or better: 3 minicatures. 

Special thanks to the Portuguese Frederic Cardoso for the will to play it.

3 Minicatures (for solo clarinet, 2017)

A recording of the graphic score William and I made for the Common Ground week at the conservatory of Antwerp. 

Arne Torfs, Bert Koether: guitar
Noah Senden, William Gherman: piano
Frederik Sannen, Corneel van der Vaart: percussion
Babette Craens: cello
Sebastian Dierckx: accordeon

One Day's Flight - William Gherman and Noah Senden (graphic score)

Due to a wonderful collaboration between Musica and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, 13 pieces made by participants of the "Soundmine International Course for Composition" were chosen for a performance by Antwerp Symphony Orchestra led by Wim Henderickx in the great Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp on the 24th of May 2017. 

The piece I made is based on the contrasty scenery of the Etna on the isle of Sicily. On our trip I was fascinated by the beautifull vegetation in contradiction with the dark-grey ashes of the volcano. The result is an atmospheric piece regarding a search for the right colours and textures.

It was a wonderful experience!

The Edge Of A Breathing Mountain (live in Queen Elisabeth Hall, Antwerp, 2016)

3 miniatures for piano solo (≈ middle grade) with an impressionistic touch. Recording in the white hall at Royal Conservatoire Antwerp (De Singel). Thanks to Babette Craens for her wonderful touch.

A Cloud Evolution - 3 miniatures for piano solo (2017)

Thanks to the Brass Ensemble of Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, conducted by Jan Smets.

Based on a poem by Mary Vera Brittain (1918):


Roundel ("Died of Wounds")

Because you died, I shall not rest again, 
But wander ever through the lone world wide, 
Seeking the shadow of a dream grown vain 
Because you died. 
 
I shall spend brief and idle hours beside 
The many lesser loves that still remain, 
But find in none my triumph and my pride; 
 
And Disillusion's slow corroding stain 
Will creep upon each quest but newly tried, 
For every striving now shall nothing gain 
Because you died.

Roundel (for brass ensemble, 2018)

Thanks to vzw "The New What Now", I had the opportunity to make a children's show based on the story of "Witchfairy" (Heksenfee), a children's book by Brigitte Minne and Carll Cneut. It was performed 5 times on the Gentse Feesten together with 3 works of other composers, wonderfully directed and recited by Mitch Van Landeghem. Unfortunate, due to the copyright of the publisher and the writer of "Witchfairy", I may not publish the text, so this is a version without narrator.

Special thanks to:
Nikita Semjonova (violin)
Maya Dhondt (piano)

https://www.bol.com/nl/f/heksenfee/34454822/?country=BE

Heksenfee / Witch fairy (Gentse Feesten 2018)

Thanks to Fleur Strijbos, Lenneke Nijst (soprano's) and Lander Rutten (vibraphone) for the recording at "This Is Not A Concert Hall" on the 13th of november, 2018. 

Based on a dutch poem of Remco Campert:

Sonnet

ik had je bloemen willen zenden
een soort bloemen dat je zou doen begrijpen
hoe ik wandel
onder welke luchten ik wandel
over welke bodem ik wandel

ik had je bloemen willen zenden
een soort van winterbloemen
met de bruine kleuren van de laatste roos
en de geur van nachten lopen
in gevaarlijk terrein
door verwaarloosde heggen omgrensd
waarachter men narcissen kon vermoeden
van de maanden die achter ons liggen
narcissen van een geur die ik waarschijnlijk te liefelijk schat

dat soort bloemen had ik je willen zenden
niet per post en onverpakt
neen ze zouden je worden gebracht
door een zwarte jongen met een Grieks profiel
die Duits studeert aan de universiteit
die zichzelf een choreografie heeft geschreven
op muziek van Mozart

dat soort bloemen
door zo'n soort jongen

maar ik vernam
dat je op reis bent
en wel niet meer terug zult keren

Sonnet (for two soprano's and vibraphone, 2018)

For SSAA-choir, soprano solo, baritone solo, horn and strings

Thanks to Simon de Paepe (conductor), Margareta Kölllner (soprano), Tom Van Bogaert (baritone), Tanguy Aerts (horn), Voix Célestes (women choir) and the strings of Con Spirito to première this piece at the 28th of april 2019  in Kapellen.

I wrote "Bounds Of The Unthinkable" because of the 50th birthday of the first moonlanding, placed it in a context of the sublime and I contrasted it with the absolute. 

I tried to present the thought of people walking on the Moon as almost unimaginable by using excerpts of the children's poem "The Crescent Moon" by Amy Lowell (1874-1925) and by using a very open musical language.

On the other hand, I integrated elements for having a less naive and more calculated side in this work, such as quotes from the original "Air-to-Ground Voice transmission", musical texture based on the coordinates of Cape Canaveral and the use of more calculated techniques of music analysis.

There is a very spacious and open atmosphere. The ensemble often plays a more important role, whereby the chorus in these passages accompanies. Two worlds are merged and the choir is pulled out of her comfort zone.

Bounds Of The Unthinkable (for female choir, horn and strings, 2019)

I wrote this piece for my Bachelor exam concert at the 21st of May 2019 in the White Hall of the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. I want to thank my composition teachers Wim Henderickx, Bram Van Camp, Alain Craens and Luc Van Hove for their inspiration and feedback the past few years. 

Also thanks to Ensemble XXI conducted by Frank Agsteribbe for this opportunity:
Flute: Lola Salas de Rueda
Oboe: Anse Kuyl
Clarinet: Martijn Susla
Trumpet: Marc Belmonte
Cello: Julie Vanbeckevoort, Pieter-Jan De Smet
Harp: Marjolein Vernimmen
Piano: Babette Craens
Percussion: Jorge Rodriguez Morales, Astrid Espinosa Bordón, Aziz Akbarov

"Vesi" is the Estonian translation for "water". In this piece I tried to convert my impression of this element. When I was 13 years old, I wrote a piece called "L'étang de Monet", a musical translation of the water lily paintings of Monet. It was the first time that a piece of mine was performed. By writing a piece about water for my bachelor exam, I want to reflect on myself as a composer to compare where I am standing now.

The art cover is a painting called "Estuary" by Vanessa Mae.

Vesi (for ensemble, 2019)

Tallinn, Estonia - Suur Saal, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre - 23/11/2020

With this piece, I had the honor to receive the first prize in the “Duo Kottos Composition Competition 2020” in London.

Many thanks to Iva Bobanović (guitar) and Juho Ahmas (cello) for this wonderful performance. Due to Corona it wasn’t possible to be present, but recordings of their rehearsals already proved the mastery of these young musicians. 

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:

00:00     1. Blue: calmness, space, air - misterioso
02:20     2. Green: time, nature, peace - con dolcessa
05:10      3. Yellow: energy, joy, vigour - energico 
07:10      4. Orange: force, power, vehemence - maestoso
10:10       5. Red: madness, rush, tension - con fuoco

Many thanks to Karl Eerik Laas for the recording.
Picture by Rasmus Kooskora.

5 Visual Fragments (for Guitar and Cello, 2020)

My girlfriend Lieze 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! Turn on your tv and watch all possible commercials ... or just watch it here: https://vimeo.com/516190476

Many thanks to ZMo-productions, VLAM and the talented cuarteto of Juan Carlos González Cabrera, Pau Fogàs, Lucía Gil and Cèlia Brunet Vila! And Abel Baeck of course for the technical assistance.

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