Philippe Boesmans

Composer Philippe Boesmans was best known for his six operas, several of them based on famous plays. He was a longtime composer-in-residence at the La Monnaie opera house in Brussels. Boesmans was born on May 17, 1936, in Tongeren, Belgium. He studied piano at the Conservatoire de Liège but was advised by his teacher not to pursue a career as a pianist. At the same time, however, he took a composition course from Pierre Froidebise, who introduced him to serialist methods. Boesmans was heavily influenced by the so-called Liège Group of composers, which included Henri Pousseur,...