Tom Pauwels BE

Tom Pauwels studied classical guitar in Brussels, Köln and Münster with Albert Sundermann, Hubert Käppel and Reinbert Evers respectively. In 1995, during his studies at the Brussels Conservatory, he was involved in the founding of Black Jackets Company, a Brussels collective of composers and performers. Ever since these early experiments he has been active in the field of contemporary music, both on classical and electric guitar. From 1999 until 2001 he was a regular member of Champ D’Action, the Antwerp-based ensemble for experimental music. Since 2002 he has worked as a performer and co-artistic leader for the new music ensemble ICTUS (Brussels). Project-wise, he performs with the Anglo-Belgian octet Plus-Minus, ‘Elastic 3’ and Letter Piece Company. He has recorded works by Craenen, Lachenmann, Shlomowitz, Van Eycken and for Cyprès (Ictus) works by Oehring, Harada, Romitelli and Aperghis. After a five-year research project on new music for guitar he became a ‘Laureate of the Orpheus Institute’ with the thesis ‘De Echo van ‘t Saluut’. Since 2002 he has been in charge of teaching new music for guitar at the Conservatory of Gent where he has developed an advanced master program with emphasis on contemporary chamber music in collaboration with the Spectra ensemble and Ictus. This program is designed for musicians wishing to combine further specialization in performing contemporary solo & chamber music with developing their professional career (more info here). He is teaching guitar at the International Summer Courses in Darmstadt. His broad interest in performance has recently led to collaborations with choreographers as Xavier Leroy (see ‘Mouvements für Lachenmann), Maud Le Pladec (see ‘Professor’ and 'Poetry') and Andros Zins-Browne (The Funerals).