Wouter Vercruysse, born in Kortrijk, Belgium, in 1981 studied cello with Jan Van Kelst at the Conservatory of Kortrijk, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.
In 2006 he graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Royal Conservatory of Ghent in the class of the German cellist Judith Ermert, under whose tutelage he obtained a Master of Music degree.
Wouter has participated in master classes with Yo-Yo Ma, Anner Bijlsma, Alexander Rudin, Lluis Claret, the Hagen Quartet and the Altenberg Trio Wien. Furthermore, in 2004, he attended the master classes of Bernard Greenhouse, Gary Hoffman and Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy in Germany, where he also participated at the Kronberg Cello Festival 2005.
Since 1997 he has been receiving private lessons from Armand Coeck in guitar, improvisation, composition, and chamber music.
Awards
First prizes in the competitions ‘Provincial Contest de Valkaart 1998’ (Bruges), ‘Rotary 2000’ (Kortrijk) and ‘Axion Classics 2000’ (Dexia Bank, Brussels). In 2005 he was a laureate in ‘Annual Concerto Competition’ for at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dirk Brossé. In 2006 he participated in ‘Tradition and Innovation: A Workshop with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble on Mentoring, Creating, and Communicating’ at Tanglewood, USA, with culminating performances in Carnegie Hall, New York.
Concerts
In 2001, Wouter had the honour to perform the premiere of Jean Paul Dessy's ‘Solétude’ for cello solo in De Munt/La Monnaie in Brussels, as well as ‘Madreselva’ for cello solo by Armand Coeck in the St.Maartenschurch in Kortrijk. In that same year, he gave his debut for the prestigious chamber music society ‘Euterpe’, and played at the European Union assembly in Château La Hulpe, Brussels. Since that time he has given many solo and chamber music concerts in Belgium and the Netherlands. In 2004-05 he toured in Flanders with several orchestras as a soloist for Johan de Meij’s Cello concerto ‘Casanova’. Together with the Silk Road Ensemble he premiered works by Evan Ziporyn, Angel Lam and Osvaldo Golijov at Carnegie Hall in september 2006.
Ensembles
In chamber music he plays together in duo with artists such as Gino Herman, Joris D'Haene(guitar) and Alexander Besant (piano). As an improviser, he shared the stage with the Turkish group ‘Melike’, the Arabian collective ‘Osama Abdulrasol Ensemble’ and with members of the Belgian Jazz Combo ‘Flath Earth Society’.
Album Nightbird
Armand Coeck (b. 1941) is one of the pioneers of classical guitar in Belgium. He taught himself to play guitar and compose, and he was one of the premiere teachers for the instrument in Belgium. Among his students are the guitarists Gino Herman, dedicatee of Constellations, and the young & talented Joris D’Haene, and the cellist Wouter Vercruysse; all three are featured on this album.
At dusk, the Nightbird ascends, hunting for prey throughout the wintry forests and across desolate fields. A melancholic monody opens the piece, as if an old sage would tell a parable. In the middle section the listener is drawn into the wild and unpredictable flight of the bird. At the end, the monody returns, as an everlasting truth.
Rosa Mystica is mentioned in the Litany of Our Lady, and symbolises the deepest secret of the Cosmos during the Middle Ages.
Madreselva, Spanish for “Mother of the Forestâ€, refers to the dark, feminine side expressed in occultist figures such as Lilith and Kali. Madreselva is also the name for the Lonicera, otherwise known as the Honeysuckle. In the Middle Ages, this plant symbolised eternal love.
CD Release Premiere Concert Nightbird Antwerp 22/02/2008 © EXQI 2008Portrait Armand Coeck © WTV 2008
