Composer Details
Frédéric DeVreese
  Birthdate
June 2, 1929 

Country of origin
Netherlands 

Web site
www.fdevreese.be/ 

Biography
(°1929, Amsterdam). Dutch-born Belgian composer of stage, orchestral, chamber, choral, and piano works; however, he is most famous for his many memorable film scores and for his conducting.

Mr. Devreese received his first musical training from his father, Godfried Devreese (1893-1972), a composer and conductor. He first studied in Brussels (composition with Marcel Poot and conducting with René Defossez). He studied composition with Ildebrando Pizzetti at the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome and conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Wiener Staatsakademie.

At the age of nineteen, he received the Prize of the Town of Ostend for his Piano Concerto No. 1. Years later, his Piano Concerto No. 4 was the imposed work for the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in 1983. His Ostinati for alto saxophone, accordion and strings was the imposed work at the International Competition Adolphe Sax in Dinant in 1998. He has received several national and international awards, including the Prix Italia for his TV opera Willem van Saeftinghe, the Georges Delerue Award and the Plateau Music Award for his film music (twice).

He is a renown filmmusic composer: He wrote for André Delvaux: The man who had his hair cut short, Un Soir, un Train..., Rendez-vous à Bray, Belle, Benvenuta and L’Oeuvre au Noir. For Marion Hansël: Noces Barbares and Il Maestro. And Yves Hanchar La Partie d’Echecs, Hugo Claus Het Sacrament; Pauline and Paulette by Lieven De Brauwer and Mein Name ist Bach by Dominique de Rivaz.

Mr. Devreese has served as conductor for the BRT Philharmonic Orchestra, and has conducted orchestras all over the world. As a conductor, he has made various recordings for Marco Polo's series Anthology of Flemish Music, for which he was nominated for the Cultural Ambassador of Flanders in 1996-97.  

View the filmo/discography of Frédéric DeVreese.