Wim Henderickx [wɪm ˈɦɛndərɪks] (born 1962 in Lier, Belgium) is a Flemish composer based in Antwerp, Belgium.
He teaches composition at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and studied at IRCAM, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Darmstadt New Music Summer School.[1][2]
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His music is characterized by non-western cultures, chiefly Indian classical music, raga, and rhythms found in the music of Africa, his music also includes structures inspired by Eastern philosophy and changing timbre.[1]
He is influenced by Olivier Messiaen, Iannis Xenakis, Igor Stravinsky, György Ligeti and Béla Bartok. As a percussionist, he usually makes use of an extended arsenal of percussion instruments in his works, often calling for unusual instrumentation.[2]
Henderickx was awarded the ‘Jeugd-en Muziekprijs Vlaanderen’ (Flanders), the ‘International Composition Price for Contemporary Music’ in Quebec (Canada), the triennial price ‘E. Baie I’ (1999) from the provinces of Antwerp for a talented Flemish artist and in 2002 became Laureate of the ‘Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium’ for the section ‘Arts’. In 2006 he was nominated for the Flanders Culture Prices by the Minister of Culture.[1][2]
He wrote the opera "Triumph of Spirit over Matter" (2000) in commission of Music Theatre Transparent with creation in La Monnaie (Brussels) and tour in Belgium and The Netherlands. "Achilleus"(youth opera) was created in 2003 in The Flemish Opera, translated into Danish and staged in Copenhagen in 2006.
In 2006 the music theatre productions "Een Totale Entführung" (in cooperation with Ramsey Nasr) based on Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail[3] and "Olek schoot een beer..." based on Bart Moeyaert's adaptation of the story of the Firebird[4] were on tour in Flanders and the Netherlands. I Solisti del Vento and Theatre Taptoe made a tour through the Netherlands and Belgium in 2009-2010 with the new scenic interpretation of "Olek".
In 2007 Wim Henderickx wrote "Canzone" for voice and piano in commission of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, for the semi-finals of the 2008 edition.
After a trip through India and Nepal Wim Henderickx created his "Tantric Cycle":
"Confrontations" for African and Western percussion was staged again in 2009 in Mechelen and Rotterdam. "Skriet" (1993), based on Munch's "The Scream" was rescored for wind band in 2010.
In February 2011 "Groove!", a big symphonic work for percussion and orchestra, was premiered by Brussels Philharmonic and Gert François as percussion soloist.