During New Music Conference, the Buma Classical Lifetime Achievement Award was presented for the first time to a Dutch composer who has left a significant mark on contemporary classical music: Theo Loevendie (1930).
He is not only a lifelong performer on the saxophone and clarinet, but above all, an unsurpassed composer of contemporary classical music, non-Western music, and jazz. In his long life, he wrote operas, orchestral works, and chamber music for both Western and Eastern instruments. Loevendie is considered a storyteller whose social commitment shines through in his works about war victims, freedom fighters, and heroes standing up for a good cause. With ensembles under his name and others he helped found, he brought his own music as well as the music of many Dutch and international composers to a diverse national and international audiences.
He has written for Isabelle van Keulen, Ronald Brautigam, Erik Bosgraaf and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, among others. In jazz and improvised music, he is held in high regard by many. At the conservatories of The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, he was an inspiring teacher to many, who let his composition students go their own way in style and approach. He can rightly be called a Dutch gem; a deserved winner of the Buma Classical Lifetime Achievement Award.
Davo van Peursen, Managing Director of Donemus Publishing:
‘At Donemus, we know Theo Loevendie as a great and colourful composer. His genre-transcending works are musical jewels of our recent music history. His ability to interweave traditional and modern elements inspired new generations of composers to this day. Donemus is proud to cherish and permanently showcase many of his works.’
Peermusic Hamburg:
‘Theo Loevendie has been a successful composer with our publishing house for more than 30 years and has become a dear friend. We thoroughly enjoy working with him.’
Composers in the crosshairs of our attention