Bart Vandewege

As a versatile musician, he studied both music theory (mainly harmony, counterpoint, and composition) and flute, singing, and piano at the Belgian conservatories of Leuven, Brussels, and his hometown, Ghent. Driven by his immense curiosity, he further specialized in early music, contemporary music, and jazz. He has participated in orchestral conducting masterclasses with Salvador Mas and Arturo Tamayo, focusing on Romantic and contemporary repertoire, as well as in ensemble singing masterclasses with the King’s Singers.

In addition to his musical training, he took classes in visual arts and creative writing at the University of Leuven, disciplines that have served as sources of inspiration in his work as a composer.

As a passionate educator, he has taught masterclasses at the Higher Conservatory of Seville, Carlos III University of Madrid, the University of Valladolid, Menéndez Pelayo University in Cuenca, the Albacete Provincial Council, and the Joconde project (Spanish National Youth Choir), among others.

Highly sought after as a singer, he commands a repertoire that spans from 16th-century polyphony to works like “Rothko Chapel” (Morton Feldman) or “Einstein on the Beach” (Philip Glass). He performs with prestigious ensembles such as Collegium Vocale Gent (Philippe Herreweghe), Vox Luminis (Lionel Meunier), Gli Angeli Genève (Stephan MacLeod), Bach Collegium Japan (Masaaki Suzuki), Il Gardellino (Marcel Ponseele), Voces Suaves (Tobias Wicky), Amsterdam Baroque Choir (Ton Koopman), Huelgas Ensemble (Paul van Nevel), Euskal Barrokensemble (Enrike Solinis), Le Concert Spirituel (Hervé Niquet), Plus Ultra (Michael Noone), Sette Voci (Peter Kooij), La Petite Bande (Sigiswald Kuijken), Concerto Köln, Utopia – a group he founded -, Il Giardino Armonico, Freiburger Barockorchester, and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

Additionally, he has worked as a bass under conductors such as Ivor Bolton, Francesco Corti, Marcus Creed, Alan Curtis, Roy Goodman, Bernard Haitink, Thomas Hengelbrock, Christopher Hogwood, René Jacobs, Robert King, Gustav Leonhardt, Peter Phillips, Kaspar Putni?š, Peter Rundel, Skip Sempé, Jos Van Immerseel, and James Wood, among others.

He has also participated in numerous recordings and concerts with internationally renowned orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, and the Staatskapelle Dresden, across Europe, the United States, and Asia.

As a guest conductor of the Vlaams Radio Koor, Bart Vandewege has made various recordings of forgotten works by composers ranging from Fétis and Lemmens to avant-garde figures like Elliott Carter. As an assistant conductor, he has conducted La Chapelle Royale, Collegium Vocale Gent, Il Gardellino, and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir, under the direction of Gustav Leonhardt, Peter Phillips, Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, and Eduardo López Banzo.

In 2008, he was appointed artistic director of the choir Al Ayre Español. He is also the artistic director of the ensemble La Hispanoflamenca, specializing in 16th and 17th-century polyphony from the Low Countries and the Iberian Peninsula, with guest conductors such as Gustav Leonhardt, Monica Huggett, and Enrico Onofri.

Bart Vandewege primarily composes for theater, film, and dance, commissioned by various European theater companies, as well as film directors, Belgian Radio Television (VRT), Les Ballets C de la B (Alain Platel), and Ars Animación España/México – Film Animation Studio, among others. His compositions employ a technique inspired by the counterpoint of 16th and 17th-century Flemish polyphonists, but applied to contemporary sound language, built on multiple horizontal lines layered like sheets. His so-called “melodies-within-melodies” are a distinctive feature, often highlighted by critics.

Until 2004, he was a programmer at Radio 3 / Klara (VRT Brussels), and he now pursues an active career as a producer of both sound and audiovisual recordings, covering a repertoire that ranges from early to contemporary music. Noteworthy are his collaborations with Zemlinsky Quartet, Pablo Giacometti, Veritá Baroque, Ariel Abramovich, Maria Cristina Kiehr, La Guirlande, Cantoría, Pierre Goy, as well as his recordings of world premieres of works by Antonio Literes, Francesco Corselli, Mauricio Kagel, and Cristóbal Halffter for labels such as Glossa, Naxos, Evil Penguin, Antarctica, Challenge Records, Et’Cetera, Vanitas, Verso, and Itinerant. His diverse musical expertise is an asset in the artistic supervision of recordings, with his goal being to bring out the best in performers within a limited time frame while allowing them the freedom to express themselves.