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About
Heleen Van Haegenborgh started her career as a pianist, specialised in contemporary music and extended techniques. Over the last years, she’s very active as a composer with commissions in the fields of contemporary music, old music, theater, visual arts and jazz.
In a review of her latest release (Squaring the Circle, 2023) and referring to her record for foghorns and piano (2013), she was described by Clive Bell in The Wire as a composer whose capacity for intrigue persists.
In Belgium, she worked closely together and made several records with visual artists and musicians with other backgrounds: jazz, electronics, Japanese music, free jazz,…She is seen as a musician who connects the circuits of contemporary classical music, free impro and experimental underground.
As a composer, she composed for very different instrumentations: Van Haegenborgh wrote pieces for several specific quartets: 4 electric guitars (Zwerm Electric Guitar Quartet), a quartet of period instruments (Nordic Affect), a quartet of percussionists and electronics (Squaring the Circle). Further she wrote solo’s for melodic instruments of the 16th century and percussion (compulsary pieces MA Competition), choir (Musarc), trio’s for lute voice and percussion, trio for oboe d’amore, piano and tenor, ensemble, trio for electric guitar violin and piano, recorder and electronics, etc.
Apart from that, she performs her own compositions for piano solo with electronics or in duo’s with Icelandic harpsichordist Gudrun Oskarsdottir, Christian Mendoza (jazz piano), Esther Venrooy (electronics), Frederik Leroux (jazz guitar) and impro with Tsubasa Hori (Taiko).
Improvisation projects have always been present in her career. She was part of the European Melting Pot in Wroclaw, Istanbul Express in Istanbul with Erdem Helvagioglu, Peking Express in China with Wu Fei, No Choice Toekomstmuziek, initiated by visual artist Dennis Tyfus and so on.
Now she’s working on a new piece for Musarc, a cello piece for Benjamin Glorieux and a large symphonie of city sounds in for De Singel and Toneelhuis with theatre director Thomas Verstraeten.
Heleen Van Haegenborgh studied composition at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Peter Swinnen, piano in Ghent with Daan Vandewalle and her music appeared on the following labels: Entr’acte, El Negocito Records, De Werf Records, Logos and Het Balanseer.
Available Scores
- Punto in Aria 1, 2 & 3 for Lute, Percussion and Mezzo Soprano
- But the Wine - Presses for Oboe d'amore, Tenor and Piano
- Window, an Etude for Recorder and Electronics
- Curtains for 4 Electric Guitars and Electronics
- Lamento di Nadima no 7 for Saxophone and Percussion
- Solo for Orchestra
- Squaring the Circle for 4 Percussionists and Electronics
- Feuerklavier for Ensemble
- Common Verbs for Ensemble and 3 voices
- Lamento die Nadima no 5 for Baroque Oboe and Percussion
- Lamento die Nadima no 6 for Baroque Cello and Percussion
- Lamento die Nadima no 1 for Violin and Percussion
- Lamento die Nadima no 2 for Recorder and Percussion
- Lamento die Nadima no 3 for Traverso and Percussion
- Lamento die Nadima no 4 for Viola da Gamba and Percussion
- Material Affordance for Mixed Choir
- The Factory for Harpsichord
- The corridor for Harpsichord
- Index for string Trio and Harpsichord
- Copper 5, 8, 7 for Piano 4-hands
- Index 5.1 for Violin, Guitar and Piano
Education
- Master composition Conservatory Brussels
- Master Piano Conservatory Ghent
- Educational training Conservatory Antwerp
Labels
- Entr’acte
- De Werf Records
- El Negocito Records
- Het Balanseer
- Wool-E Tapes
Commissioners
- Zwerm Electric Guitar Quartet
- MA Festival and MA Competition
- Musarc Choir
- De Singel
- Nordic Affect
- Lunalia
- Transit Festival
- Concertgebouw Brugge
- KAAP
- Opera Ballet Vlaanderen / Momu
- Festival Van Vlaanderen
- Sofie Vanden Eynde / Imago Mundi
- Spectra Ensemble
- B.A.A.D.M.
- Logos
- Gent Festival
- Tomma Wessel
Collaborations
- Johan De Wilde
- Nordic Affect
- Musarc Choir / Joseph Kohlmayer
- Benjamin Glorieux
- Christian Mendoza
- Gudrun Oskarsdottir
- S.M.A.K.
- Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe
- Alex Fostier
- Tsubasa Hori
- Esther Venrooy
- Dennis Tyfus
- Frederik Leroux
- Nu-architectuuratelier
- Geert Van Oorlée
- Lulu Cuyvers
- Geert Belpaeme
- Seppe Gebruers
- Mary Jane Leach
- Wu Fei
- Johan Vandermaelen
- Patrick Corillon
- Robbrecht Desmet
- Centre Henri Pousseur
- Jasper Rigole
- Rokus Hofstede
- Femke Gyselinck
- Kristof Roseeuw
- Raoul de la Roche Aymon
- Katrien Vermeire
- Guillaume Vandenberghe
- Stief Desmet and Cristoph De Munck
- Lander Gyselinck
- Jez Riley French
- Erdem Helvagioglu
Performers
- Zwerm
- Tom De Cock
- Finalists MA Competition 2021
- Musarc choir
- Gudrun Oskarsdottir
- Kristien Ceuppens
- Reinhoud Van Mechelen
- Inge Spinette
- Nordic Affect
- Elisabeth Klinck
- Spectra Ensemble
- Alejandro Fenelosa
- Tomma Wessel
- Lieselot De Wilde
- Sofie Van den Eynde
- Lucas Messler
- Aya Suzuki
- Anita Cappuccinelli
- Diego Saenz Mateo
- Christian Mendoza
- Frederik Leroux
Teaching/workshops
- Music and Sound in film Luca School of Arts Brussels
- KADE kunstacademie: pianolab, tapas & piano
- Lecture musicology K.U.L.
- Lecture HRPSCHRD
- Workshop Weerklank, Matrix