Eric BETTENS

BIOGRAPHY Very young, Eric BETTENS, born on April 27th 1973 in Hainaut province (Belgium), showed himself interested in sounds and rhythms, and particularly in Polish folk tunes played on violin by his maternal grandfather. That is why he naturally attended lessons at the Academy of music in Courcelles : music theory, music history, trumpet and percussions, instruments for which he received a degree with first class honours (Government medal). From the beginning of his education till nowadays, he has always played the trumpet either in chamber music or in good quality amateur orchestras (Orchestre des Jeunes de Bruxelles, directed by Marc Collet and Orchestre Terra Nova, from Namur, directed by Etienne Rappe). He also played as a soloist and for some years, has been the solo trumpet in the Leval-Trahegnies wind band. He also improved himself in the « New Orleans » jazz style. But playing an instrument was not enough for him! Passionate for music on synthesizer, popularized by Jean-Michel Jarre or Vangelis, he tried his hand at composition on a little « synth », then attended several lessons in order to improve himself: piano to get used with the keyboard technique and electroacoustic music with Annette Van de Gorne to acquire all the particularities of it. Since mid-90's, he has continuously bought electronic material (synthes, consoles, sequence softwares, sound-processing softwares...) and learned his operating mode in order to progressively master all their resources. The development of Internet and MP3 technique also allowed him to exchange information, competence, sounds, critics, etc... with other musicians worldwide! In his pieces of work, Eric BETTENS tries to develop a subtle balance between acoustic and electronic instruments by also integrating sounds from nature. This personal approach earned him, as soon as 2001, many encouragements and advice by Luc Baiwir, the well-known composer from Liège. Baiwir encouraged him to present one of his composition, « Nydhis » to the World Festival of Underwater Pictures in Antibes. This musical piece of work awarded the first price (Price François de Roubais). The style of Eric BETTENS is more and more appreciated : the proof is the numerous orders he has received since 2002 : music for theater, for short films and for documentary films (among others, « Le monde des gastéropodes » by Danny Van Belle awarded the « Palme d'Or » in its category at the Antibes Festival in november 2004). (See section « Compositions ») In June 2005, he is invited by Michael AW to be a judge at the festival "Celebrate the sea" in Singapore. He had to take attention to soundtracks of the films. He will play 2 concerts there. In the beginning of 2006, "DISCOVERY" was released a new CD. Between january and june, he writted 14 soundtracks for new documentary films. In april, he is invited for the second time to the festival "Celebrate the sea" and will perform his new compositions at the "Ink Club Bar". During this festival, he will receive the best music adaptation award for the film of Stuart Ireland "Impression of blue". In 2007, he writted severals new musics for films. During the 'Celebrate the sea" festival in Manilla, he received the best music adaptation award for the soundtrack of "the world of crustaceans" by Danny Van Belle. In october, he received the best original music award for the last film of Danny Van Belle "The windows of life" at the 34è underwater film festival in Antibes. The films was also received the Gold Palm February 2008, he will give his show "Music and the Sea" at the Cultural Center "La Posterie" in Courcelles. This show is a mix of film music performed live, sounds, lights and video projections. This concert has been reproduced in Strasbourg and the castle Karreveld (Brussels). In late August, he wrote the music for the latest film by Danny Van Belle in record time: 52 minutes of music in 4 days. This film won the Gold Palm at the World underwater film festival'Antibes in November. At this festival, Eric Bettens also received the award for best original music for "Insects of the Sea" by G. Rosiers, the award for best musical for the slideshow "Stardancers" L. Eeckout.PROJECTS Several projects are underway: • The first is the upcoming release of the second CD entitled "Between sky and sea." • Eric Bettens is currently working on writing an oratorio (for choir, orchestra, soloists and narrator) in the medieval style fantasy, with a libretto adapted by Marc Ronvaux (www.marc-ronvaux.be) based on the novel by Christian Troyes: Yvain, le chevalier au lion "[LOVEMYFLASH]