Johannes Abraham "Johan" de Meij (; born November 23, 1953 in

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 peo ...

) is a Dutch conductor, trombonist, and composer, best known for his '' Symphony No. 1'' for wind ensemble, nicknamed ''The Lord of the Rings'' symphony.

Biography

Johan de Meij received his musical training at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Nether ...

, where he studied trombone and conducting. His Symphony No. 1, ''The Lord of the Rings,'' received the Sudler Composition Prize and has been recorded by ensembles including The

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

, The North Netherlands Orchestra, The

Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra The is a symphony orchestra based in Nagoya, Japan, founded in 1966. The orchestra gives concerts primarily at the Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater Concert Hall and the Chukyo University Center for Culture & Arts Aurora Hall. The orchestra gave ...

, and The Amsterdam Wind Orchestra. Before turning exclusively to composing and conducting, Johan de Meij played trombone and euphonium; he performed with major ensembles in The Netherlands. He is the principal guest conductor of the New York Wind Symphony and the Kyushu Wind Orchestra in Fukuoka, Japan; he is a regular guest conductor of the Simón Bolívar Youth Wind Orchestra in Caracas, Venezuela, part of the Venezuelan educational system

El Sistema El Sistema (which translates to The System) is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu.Lesniak It later adopted the motto "M ...

. He is founder and CEO of the publishing company Amstel Music, which he established in 1989. When not traveling, de Meij divides his time between

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

with his wife Dyan. His '' Symphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings"'', first performed in 1988, won the Sudler Composition Award in 1989. It has been recorded by several orchestras.

Works

* 1979 ''Patchwork for brass sextet'' * 1984-1988 '' Symphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings"'' * 1988 ''Loch Ness - A Scottish Fantasy'' * 1989 ''Aquarium'' opus 5 * 1993 ''Symphony No. 2 "The Big Apple" (A New York Symphony)'' * 1995 ''Polish Christmas Music- Part 1'' (based on the Polish Christmas carols ''Poklon Jezusowi; Mizerna, cicha; Aniol pasterzom mówil; Gdy sliczna Panna'' and ''Jam jest dudka'') *1995 ''Jazz Suite No.2'' (of Dmitri Shostakovich) Classical transcription for symphonic/fanfare band *1996 '' T-Bone Concerto'' for trombone and concert band *1997 ''Continental Overture'' *1998 ''La Quintessenza'' *2000 ''Casanova'' for cello solo and symphonic wind orchestra *2002 ''The Venetian Collection'' *'' Klezmer Classics for wind orchestra'' *''The Wind in the Willows'' *2005 ''Extreme Make-over'' (Testpiece for the European Brass Band Contest 2005, Groningen-NL) *2005 ''Ceremonial Fanfare'' *2006 ''Symphony No. 3 "Planet Earth"'' *2006 ''Windy City Overture'' - commissioned by the

Northshore Concert Band The Northshore Concert Band (NCB) is a 100-member concert band based in Evanston, Illinois which performs throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. History NCB was founded in 1956 and led for 40 years by the late John P. Paynter, who was direct ...

*2007 ''Canticles'' for Bass Trombone and Wind Orchestra *2007 ''Festive Hymn'' *2008 ''Dutch Masters Suite'' *2009? ''Evolution'' *2010 ''Spring - Overture for Wind Orchestra'' *2010 ''At Kitty O'Sheas (Irish Folk Song Suite)'' *2011 ''Cloud Factory'' *2011 "Songs from the Catskills" *2011? ''Sinfonietta no. 1'' (''for brass band'') *2012 ''UFO Concerto for Euphonium'' *2012 ''Extreme Beethoven'' - commissioned by in

Kerkrade Kerkrade ( Ripuarian: ; li, Kirkraoj; german: Kerkrade or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a municipality in the southeast of Limburg; the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. Kerkrade is the ...

*2013 ''Symphony No. 4 "Sinfonie der Lieder"'' (to texts by

Friedrich Rückert Friedrich Rückert (16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages. Biography Rückert was born in Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local '' Gymnasium'' ...

, Heinrich Heine, and

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-cl ...

) * 2013 ''Basilica sacra'' * 2013 ''Summer'' * 2014 ''Downtown divertimento'' * ''Madurodam'' * ''Pentagram'' * ''R.O.K Navy Fanfare'' * 2019 ''Symphony No. 5 "Return to Middle Earth"'' * 2022 ''The Painted Bird''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meij, Johan De 1953 births Living people 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical trombonists 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Dutch male musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century classical trombonists 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century Dutch male musicians Brass band composers Concert band composers Dutch classical composers Dutch classical trombonists Dutch conductors (music) Dutch male classical composers Male conductors (music) Male trombonists People from Voorburg Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni