Johan de Meij
John Abraham Johan de Meij [ j'ohɑn dʏ mɛi ] ( born November 23, 1953 in Voorburg ) is a Dutch conductor, trombonist, arranger and composer.
Life
The musical career of de Meij began at the age of 15 years with the band Harmony Forum Hadriani in Voorburg. He was at this time music lessons from Anne Bijlsma ( senior) and Piet van Dijk on trombone and euphonium. In 1976 he was drafted for military service and the Concert Band Trompetter Corps incorporated the cavalry in Amersfoort. Upon completion of military service, he was In May 1977 euphonium player in the band Politiekapel, Amsterdam under the direction of Karel Kokelaar.
In 1978 he studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague trombone with Arthur Moore ( principal trombone in the Hague Philharmonic Orchestra ) and band - directorate Rocus van Yperen and from 1979 to Jan van Ossenbruggen.
Participation in professional Haags Koper Ensemble, a group of wind players of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra and the Residentie Orchestra, played an important role in de Meijs musical career. Founded in 1978, this ensemble gave concerts in all parts of the Netherlands and has been sent regularly on the radio. De Meij worked here not only as an instrumentalist, he also did administrative things and writing arrangements and composition.
His arrangements for wind band have not only played by the police band in Amsterdam, but after a short time by numerous orchestras at home and abroad. This brought the first contact with a known music publisher who signed him for further arrangements. De Meij edited numerous film and musical tunes for concert band; for the publication of his own compositions, he founded a self-publishing in the sequence.
As a first composition presented de Meij 1988 a whole symphony before the symphony No.1 The Lord of the Rings. With the premiere of the Groot Harmonieorkest van de Belgische Gidsen headed by Norbert Nozy and the recording of the work on CD by the Koninklijke Militaire Kapel under Pierre Kuijpers he achieved worldwide recognition. The work, which used motifs of Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, 1989 he received the prestigious Sudler Composition Award U.S..
Other well-known works are the Symphony No. 2 The Big Apple, the T- Bone Concerto ( for trombone and band) and Casanova ( for Cello and Wind Orchestra ).
In addition to his work as a composer de Meij is also known as a trombonist in the Orchestra De Volharding, active in Amsterdam Wind Orchestra and the Radio Chamber Orchestra Amsterdam. He is also a guest conductor, especially in wind music seminars in Europe, Japan, Singapore, Brazil and the United States.