Noor Sommereyns
Biography
Training
Noor Sommereyns (°24/11/1982, Belgium, as Gwendolyn Sommereyns), took, in addition to Greek and Latin, various subjects such as solfège, harmony, accompaniment practice and piano at the Municipal Music Academy of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (Brussels). She was only 12 when she wrote her first pieces for piano; at the age of 14, she was recognized by SABAM as a composer. In 2000, Sommereyns began her studies at the Lemmens Institute (now LUCA School of Arts) in Leuven, and in the meantime followed an internship in composition with Wim Henderickx (Neerpelt, 2001). In June 2005, Sommereyns graduated as Master in Music for Composition, with great distinction, at the Lemmens Institute, where she was accompanied by Luc Van Hove, Jan Van der Roost and Kurt Bikkembergs.
Competitions and prizes
Sometime later, Sommereyns was twice laureate of the KBC Aquarius Composition Project for Young People: in 1998 with Sémira (for piano solo) and in 1999 with Oh, fruscio del bel canneto (for soprano and piano). When she graduated from the music academy, she received two municipal medals: for music theory (with great distinction) and for piano (with greatest distinction).
Noor Sommereyns was twice laureate of the Muzizoek Composition Competition, in 2002 with Endeavour (for string quartet) and in 2003 with Avalon (for mixed choir). In December 2003, she was crowned at the ISME - Composition Competition. Her work Cascade for harp solo was awarded the Second Prize - Piet Vermeulen Prize and the Special Prize for the best composition for Harp or Piano. At the 2003 Provincial Music Composition Prize for Hafabra (Flemish Brabant), she was also noticed with the work Phoenix (for wind orchestra) and was awarded the Encouragement Prize. In 2004, she composed Myst for harp solo, the mandatory work for Dexia Bank's Axion Classics competition, and made several choral arrangements as part of the European Youth Music Festival in Neerpelt. A year later, she won first prize in the National Choral Composition Competition Capella di Voce/Euprint with Poor Corydon, for mixed choir.
Compositions
Since 2005, Sommereyns has been composing for various ensembles and organisations such as the SPECTRA ensemble, JongArt and Emanon Ensemble. In the autumn of 2007, she made a successful tour through Japan with her composition Kayano; in 2008 she received the nomination for the Gouden Klaproos (Golden Poppy) (Belgium) in the category choral works. New commissions meant that her oeuvre grew steadily. Since the summer of 2009, she has taken a break from composing. In August 2010, her first name changed from Gwendolyn to Noor and she started working full time as a software engineer. Her compositions are available through various publishers.
Choral works (selection)
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