BIKKEMBERGS Kurt

Bio

Kurt Bikkembergs was born on 5 August 1963 in Hasselt, and took his first steps in the music world in the early 1970s. He studied solfège, piano, harmony and trumpet at the conservatory in Hasselt. In 1978 he continued his secondary school education at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven, where his interest in composition grew. At this same school, Bikkembergs specialised in music education, composition (with Luc Van Hove), choral conducting (with Erik Van Nevel) and orchestral conducting (with Edmond Saveniers). In 1990 he earned his higher diploma in choral conducting (cum laude).  At present, Kurt Bikkembergs is choir director and assistant in notation, composition and choral conducting at the Lemmens Institute, and conductor of the Capella di Voce. He is also a regular guest conductor with the Flemish Radio Choir. Since 2002, Bikkembergs has been artistic director of the chorus of the Flemish Opera and together with Willem Ceuleers has shared the function of choirmaster at the cathedral in Brussels. He regularly leads productions and courses for such organisations as Muzikamp, the Flemish choral federations, the St Gregory Society (the Netherlands), the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Belarusian University of Culture in Minsk.