Jan Van Landeghem

Director and teacher

Jan Van Landeghem was the principal of the Academie voor Muziek, Woord en Dans of Bornem for almost 30 years and the principal teacher of Composition at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Brussels. For 40 years, he worked at this institution as an inspiration to young composers at home and abroad. At the moment, he is teaching at the Musica Mundi School in Waterloo. 

Composer

As a composer Jan wrote more than 100 pieces for small and large settings, solo pieces, pieces for chamber music, concerti, orchestral and choral pieces. He obtained 15 national and international composition prizes, among which are the prizes 'Holait-Dapsens' from the Conservatory of Brussels, the ‘Wendungen’ prize of the Festival of Flanders, de ‘Camille Huysmans’ prize, Composer of the year 2000 at the Ramsgate Spring Festival, the 'Gebroeders Darche' prize of the Brussels Conservatory, and so on. Moreover, he was named an honorary citizen of his hometown in 2018.

Jan Van Landeghem received commissions from the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra, Klara, the City of Bruges, the City of Sint-Niklaas, the Verhaeren foundation, Flanders Recorder Quartet, I solisti del Vento, the Landini string quartet and numerous soloists and ensembles at home and abroad. 

He gave lectures, lecture-recitals, and masterclasses in composition at the Conservatories of  Bologna, Brussels, Ghent, Hiroshima, Brno, Prague, Mexico-City, Montréal, Wroclaw, and was selected as a Fulbright Scholar at the Atlanta State University. Every year he is invited as a guest professor to attend several international universities and conservatories. 

Jan Van Landeghem considers his composing a passion and human mission to radiate beauty and universal love; he also likes to work with spiritual themes of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, wherein the highest form of spirituality reaches out to quantum physics and the newest cosmic unitary philosophy. 

Performing musician

He performed at concerts as a solo-organist and accompanist in Europe, the United States and the Far East. He performed all over the world with Alain Roelandt (trumpet) and Marie-Noëlle de Catalaÿ (singer). Several of their CD recordings were acclaimed. 

Together with the Belgian top violinist Jenny Spanoghe, he established the duo Landini, with which he is very successful in Belgium and abroad (a.o. Mexico Organ Festival, Copenhagen, Bologna, Mirecourt, Seville, Poland, Dresden, Prague etc.). Together they released several CD’s with a classic repertoire and work by the composer himself, and designed a 5 stringed viola. Important creations would follow, among others his piano concerto tryptiek performed by the Orchestre de chambre de Wallonie conducted by the composer himself. In June 2018, Jan obtained a PhD in the Arts, a course that took place at the VUB in consultation with the Conservatory of Brussels. 

In 2011, Jan Van Landeghem became Composer in Residence of the International Marimba competition of Korea. Sinds 2012 he has been an elected member of the Royal FLemish Academy for Sciences and Arts of Belgium.