Giel Vleggaar Composer
Music
Biography
Composer Giel Vleggaar was born on January 9, 1974, in Amsterdam. He started playing piano when he was 11 years old. It was Beethoven or nothing—until he got his hands on an electric guitar. From then on, his musical life was all about Prince and funk. He studied Jazz Arranging and Composition with Jurre Haanstra at the Hilversum Conservatory and broadened his horizons further by studying Classical Composition at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Daan Manneke and Theo Verbey. He also took guest lessons with George Crumb, among others. A visit to The Gambia brought him into contact with the music of the Wolof tribe. He has also immersed himself in the music theory of Carnatic music from South India.
After his studies, Giel Vleggaar received the NOG Encouragement Prize from the Netherlands Ballet Orchestra (Holland Symfonia) in 2002 for his orchestral work Fast Lane Woodpecker. Since then, a steady stream of commissions and performances has followed, both in the Netherlands and abroad. He has written works for Orkest de Volharding, the Nieuw Ensemble, the Nederlands Strijkers Gilde, the Netherlands Vocal Laboratory, the Doelen String Quartet, Asko|Schönberg, and the Dutch Radio Chamber Philharmonic. His Piano Concerto, which was premiered by Ralph van Raat in the Saturday Matinee at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 2009, received glowing reviews. His work was performed at the Holland Festival, and in 2012 he returned as a composer to the Saturday Matinee with the oratorio The Trees of Paradise.
Giel Vleggaar’s music is characterized by great accessibility and melodiousness. As a composer, Vleggaar playfully mixes the most diverse styles from music history, with his pop and jazz background coming to the fore in all his works. In Appalachia (2004), written for the Nieuw Ensemble, bluegrass, bebop, and avant-garde music enter into an explosive marriage. In his 2006 orchestral work Dead as Disco, composed for the Radio Chamber Philharmonic, Vleggaar describes the slow demise of the disco genre, seen through the lens of 1980s electro-pop. His music often sounds lyrical and features an infectious, sometimes obstinate, rhythmic drive. He writes with equal ease for small ensembles and symphony orchestras.
His latest works, Sinfonia and Death and Cadences, explore the full integration of classical and pop music elements, blending acoustic and electronic production techniques.
Giel Vleggaar teaches music composition and music theory through the website Compose with Confidence.
Video
Work List
- Death and Cadences (2025), for two pianos, bass guitar, percussion and electronics
- Sinfonia (2025), for string orchestra, percussion and electronics
- Dulcinea II (2024), for duduk, kaval and qanun
- Dulcinea I (2024), for duduk, kaval and electronics
- The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote (2023), for ensemble
- Wake Up Sleeping Beauty (2016), for reed quintet
- Springs Eternal (2014), for orchestra
- Jägerlieder (2013), for soprano, string quartet and piano
- Arise (2013), for orchestral brass
- The Trees of Paradise (2012), for 3 singers, choir and orchestra
- Arcadia (2012), for orchestra
- Pretty Beautiful (2011), for 12 winds
- DAZED (2011), for 3 singers and ensemble
- Fünf (2010), for orchestra
- Ayre of Solace (2009), for orchestra
- Piano Concerto (2008), for piano and orchestra
- Wanted: Ferne Geliebte (2007), for 3 sopranos and ensemble
- Atomic UFO Saves the Day (Again) (2007), for bass guitar and ensemble
- In Transit (2007), for saxophone quartet and 2 percussionists
- Dead as Disco (2006), for orchestra
- String Quartet (2006), for string quartet
- Drowning (2006), for 5 voices
- Aiming for Ecstasy (2005), for electric guitar
- Post Mortem (2005), for voice and ensemble
- Up and Away (2005), for string orchestra
- Appalachia (2004), for steelstring acoustic guitar and ensemble
- Brave Cactus Hits the Road (2003), for ensemble
- Falling Down [XL] (2006), for flute, clarinet, tuba, percussion and piano
- Falling Down (2003), for clarinet, cello and piano
- Come Here Often? (2003), for 2 percussionists and soundtrack
- Bred in Captivity (2002), for ensemble
- Counting Stars with Confidence (2002), for cello and piano
- L’apres-midi d’un toreador (2001), for flute orchestra
- Fast Lane Woodpecker (2001), for orchestra
- Farewell to Pandora (2000), for flute and ensemble
- DNCS (1999) for oboe, clarinet, violin, cello and piano
- Day Before Dusk (1998) for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin and cello
- Zelhem Wildlife (1998) for piano solo
- Epitaph (1997) for string quartet
The scores of the compositions by Giel Vleggaar are published by Donemus.