FLORIAN JOHANNES DE BACKERE
1983 Born on April 5 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
1990 Goes to a Waldorf primary school. Starts having Clarinet lessons.
First attempts in writing short-stories.
1992 Starts with Piano lessons. First attempts in writing music.
1994 First contact with ‘newer’ music when he plays one of the child-parts in Wozzeck | A. Berg, Willy Dekker (dir.) and Hartumt Haenchen (cond.)
1995 Moves to Nijmegen. Takes a break in having piano-lessons.
1998 Writes for Clarinet-quintet, slowly evolving in more small-compositions. First poems and other text-writings.
2001 Jakob’s reis door de muziek van de tijd | for school-orchestra (final work at Waldorf school).
2002 Selene’s maanspiegel | for the Ereprijs-ensemble (honored with 1st prize). Finishes ‘regular’ pre-university education. Moves back to Amsterdam to study composition with Daan Manneke at the ‘Conservatorium van Amsterdam’.
2003 Pyrite | for Windensemble. Dances | for four saxophones. And other pieces.
Zand! | Music for an out-door theatre production.
2004 Wins first prize at the ‘Quink’ composition-competition with O Giorno O Ora O ultimo Momento | Vocal Quintet on texts by Petrarca. Takes a course in scène-writing given by Willem Jan Otten.
2005 Start of collaborations with fellow-students at Theatre-school, Film, Art and Dance-accademy. Misura | music to award-winning short-dance-film by Maaike van den Berg. Role in theatre-school production Im Dickicht der Städte | B. Brecht. Performs his text-writings and poetry for the first time in public at Human Expo, initiated by colleague-composer Paul Oomen. Starts having composition-lessons with Fabio Nieder as well.
2006 Starts text-writing on Wachterslangnacht whitch later grows into a major musical theatre-production. Takes a course in Voice and Acting by Bart Kiene. Role in theatre-school production Le Roi se meurt | E. Ionesco.
2007 World premier Wachterslangacht | musical-play performed by (former-)students, Christiaan Mooij (dir.), Rea Fueter, Egbert Jan Harte Boerma, Pieter Ploeg a.o. at ‘Posthoornkerk’, Amsterdam.
2008 Premieres of: MARE | commision by the Dutch Student Chamber-choir, January WEIDE | by the ASKO-ensemble, Bas Wiegers (cond.), April DEZE DOCHTER heeft geen kleren | mini-opera with fellow-students for a street-opera-festival in Amsterdam in collaboration with DNO (Dutch Opera), November, LEIS | for marching-band, commision by artists-collective W139, November
2009 FINAL EXAM (EIND EX AMEN), January 8, two world premieres:
Sieben Morgenstern Lieder | Liedcycle on texts by Chr. Morgenstern, performed by Niklaus Kost (bar.)
and Frederik Graversen (pno.) ABENDSTILLE | viola solo, written for and performed by Joël Waterman
Finishes his studies in Amsterdam, leaves for Insbruck, Zuerich and New York.