Roel Dieltiens (born 1956) is a Belgian

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Dieltiens plays both

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and modern cello. Dieltiens grew up in a musical family and initially studied

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. At the age of fifteen, just as he was about to give up music, his elder brother encouraged him to try the cello. He immediately fell in love with the instrument. Three years later he won First Prize at the Royal Flemish Conservatory in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium.

Studies and degrees

Dieltiens continued his studies at the Chapelle musicale Reine Élisabeth in

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

, Belgium. He also studied with André Messens in Antwerp, Belgium, with

André Navarra André-Nicolas Navarra (Biarritz, 13 October 1911 – Siena, 31 July 1988) was a French cellist and cello teacher. Early life He was born into a musical family in Biarritz, his father being a bassist of Italian descent."'Play From The Stomach, ...

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

, Germany and with Pierre Fournier in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland. He received a diploma from the Akademie für Solisten in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

, Germany and a Diploma d'Onore from the

Accademia Chigiana The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Classe ...

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

, Italy.

Interest in baroque, contemporary, and ethnic music

Dieltiens played with the violinist

André Gertler André Gertler (26 July 1907 – 23 July 1998) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (1940–1977), Professor at the Cologne Academy of Music (1954–1957), Professor at the College of Musi ...

, the clarinetist Walter Boeykens and the

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...

and conductor René Jacobs. He became the latter's regular continuo cellist. Several contemporary composers, including Luc Van Hove and William Bolcom, have asked Dieltiens to give first performances of their works. He has also collaborated with

Victor Legley Victor Legley (18 June 1915 in Hazebrouck – 28 November 1994 in Ostend) was a Belgian violist and composer of classical music, of French birth. He first studied in Ypres with Lionel Blomme (1897–1984). In 1935 he matriculated at the Ro ...

and

Jacqueline Fontyn Jacqueline, Baroness Fontyn (born 27 December 1930) is a contemporary Belgian composer, pianist and music educator. She was born in Antwerp, and has received the title of baroness from the King of Belgium in recognition of her many artistic contri ...

. Dieltiens has performed and recorded as a member of the chamber music ensemble, Explorations. Dieltiens has also performed with the Hungarian ethnic music group

Muzsikás Muzsikás is a Hungarian musical group playing mainly folk music of Hungary and other countries and peoples of the region. Established in 1973, it has also played works by classical composers, especially Béla Bartók, who himself collected folk ...

Compositions for contemporary dance

Along with the choreographer

Alain Platel Alain Platel (born 9 April 1956) is a Belgian choreographer and director. In 1984, he founded les ballets C de la B, which has been called 'one of the world's most influential dance theatre companies'. Platel came to prominence alongside choreogr ...

les ballets C de la B Alain Platel (born 9 April 1956) is a Belgian choreographer and director. In 1984, he founded les ballets C de la B, which has been called 'one of the world's most influential dance theatre companies'. Platel came to prominence alongside choreogr ...

(formerly called Les Ballets Contemporains de la Belgique), Dieltiens created ''Iets (iets) op Bach.'' ''Iets op Bach'', which translates loosely as "A Little Something set to Bach", won a

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

Live Award in London, England in 1998 and a Masque d'Or de la Production Etrangère (Golden Mask for a Foreign Production) award in 1999. Dieltiens continued his association with Les Ballets C de la B, playing a "fabulously strange and discordant accompaniment" to Les Ballets C de la B's ''Rien de Rien'' in 2001.

Awards

Other awards Dieltiens has won include a Caecilia Award in Belgium and a

Diapason d'Or The Diapason d'Or (French for "Golden Tuning Fork") is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of '' Diapason'' magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the ...

in France.

Discography

Recordings include: * J.S. Bach: Complete Cello Suites * Vivaldi: Cello Sonatas * Tartini: Concertos * Italian Cello Music: Domenico Gabrielli, Benedetto Marcello, Giovanni Bononcini, Alessandro Scarlatti D, Willem de Fesch * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Flute Quartets * Bach, C.P.E. - Cello Concertos Wq 170, 171 & 172 -

Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century ( nl, Orkest van de Achttiende Eeuw) is a Dutch early music orchestra. Frans Brüggen and Lucy van Dael co-founded the orchestra in 1981. Sieuwert Verster became financial manager in 1984. Although he did no ...

Teaching and competitions

Dieltiens teaches at the Musikhochschule Hochschule für Musik und Theater in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, Switzerland. Dieltiens is frequently invited to serve as a jury member in competitions such as the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, the

Queen Elizabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition ( nl, Koningin Elisabethwedstrijd, french: Concours musical international Reine Élisabeth) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in Brussels. The competition is named after Queen ...

in Brussels, and the Tchaikowski Competition in Moscow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dieltiens, Roel Belgian cellists 1957 births Living people Belgian composers Male composers Belgian male musicians