Jeroen Malaise (°1971, Antwerp, Belgium) is a pianist-composer and teacher at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. As a performer and creator he's fascinated by various traditions and forms of improvisation. His concerts took him to stages and happenings all over the world: from Wiener Konzerthaus and Royal Opera House London, to National Arts Centre Ottawa and Beijing Music Festival. In projects such as Congo Echoes and West Bank Echoes he explores connections between musical styles from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Jeroen played several keyboard instruments from an early age including clavichord, harpsichord and piano. He studied with Jan Vermeulen, Jacques Detiège, Remy Syrier, Wim Henderickx, Luc Van Hove and graduated master and bachelor degrees with the highest and great distinctions for piano, harpsichord and composition. He took lessons in baroque and classical improvisation with Ewald Demeyere and in jazz piano with Christoph Erbstösser.
He released two albums with own compositions: Keyboard Works Part 1 and Keyboard Works Part 2: Nomadic Cycle (Etcetera Records). As a composer, he focuses mainly on the keyboard, but he also has compositions for other instrumentations. He is ambassador for the Pleyel Concert Grand piano (1884) at the Vleeshuis Museum in Antwerp.
At the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, Jeroen is section chair creative enterprise and supervises graduation projects of master's students. As a teacher and researcher, he specializes in keyboard improvisation techniques. In addition to giving lectures and masterclasses, he chairs the steering committee of Metric (modernizing European higher music education through improvisation). His musical ventures have earned him several national and international awards.
(c) Koen Broos