Member of the Jury and composer of the set piece in the Excellence category
Philippe VERKAEREN trained at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where he was awarded first prizes in organ, written and practical harmony, counterpoint and fugue.
He is as interested in playing the instrument as he is in writing and teaching . For fifteen years, he was a lecturer and professor at the Brussels Conservatory, teaching courses as diverse as music reading , written and practical harmony, Gregorian chant accompaniment, improvisation and organ in particular. After beginning his career as a professor of music reading and writing at the Uccle Academy of Music, he was appointed deputy director there for several years. He was then called upon by the municipality of Schaerbeek, where he served as director of the Academy of Instrumental Music from 1992 to 2015. He has also been the titular organist at the Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Brussels since 1992. In 2015, he created the ‘Dimanches Musicaux de la place Brugmann’ concerts in this parish, where renowned artists such as Marie-Noëlle de CALLATAY, Bernard CARLIER and FIRMIN DECERF have performed.
As a composer, he has written mainly for the organ, but has also composed pieces for piano, piano four hands, clarinet, violin-viola, trumpet, guitar, flute and choir. He has also written melodies, including two cycles in collaboration with the Belgian writer Jacques RICHARD. Several pieces were commissioned for competitions: the DEXIA Competition, the KAUFMANN Competition, and the National Harp Competition. Among his most notable works are ‘APOSTROPHES’ for organ, which won third prize at the International Composition Competition of the University of São Paulo in 1997, and the QUINTET for flute, violin, viola, cello and harp, premiered by the ARPAE ensemble as part of the Joseph JONGEN year in 2003. He performs regularly as a concert performer and accompanist, with a very broad repertoire and a preference for works from the 19th and 20th centuries. He has been invited to perform at the Mosan Summer Festival, the Collégiades de Mons, the Brussels International Organ Week, and the Atheneum in Bucharest. His organ pieces are regularly performed in Belgium and France. Several of them were premiered at the annual concert of the Walloon Union of Organists, of which he is a member of the Board of Directors.
Some of his works have been recorded on CD by organist Bernard CARLIER, who plays them frequently in Belgium and abroad.
Violist Dominique HUYBRECHTS and Josef SLUYS , former organist at St Michel’s Cathedral in Brussels, have also recorded his BALLADE for viola and organ.
Some of his works have been recorded on CD by organist Bernard CARLIER, who plays them frequently in Belgium and abroad.
Violist Dominique HUYBRECHTS and Josef SLUYS, former organist at St Michel Cathedral in Brussels, have also recorded his BALLADE for viola and organ.