Nederlands Bernard Baert
Bernard Baert grew up in a musical family (his father was director of the local music school), and he received his first music lessons at the academy in his hometown. Afterwards he studied at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, where he studied with Louis Pas and Claude Coppens for piano, and Roland Coryn for composition. He also obtained a higher diploma and teaching certificate for piano. Additional summer courses for piano followed by Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Daniel Blumenthal and Robert Groslot.
From 1987 to 1997 he was professor of composition at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, and currently he teaches piano and ensemble and also works as a pianist-accompanist at the Waregem music academy.
For Baert is composing a matter of developing musical processes, the structure and the development of purely musical ideas. Here usually starts with a main affect but then lets the emotion flow from the music. It remains his objective to create expression an to move the listeners with his music as much as possible.
In his compositions he achieved almost immediately major awards, including the SABAM Prize for his Woodwind Quintet (1994) and Jef Van Hoof Prize for his piano trio (1995). After 1995 he decides to write much simpler than before, in order to increase the actual enjoyment of playing. Since 2003 he writes mainly educational pieces for use in music schools.
