I Colori della Gioia

Although I am especially known for my instrumental compositions, I have always loved vocal music as well. This album displays a nice variety of music for voices and contains no less than six “first recordings.” The three first works are for mixed choir, with orchestra, organ and piano respectively and they feature the “Flemish Radio Choir”. Soprano Anneke Luyten shines in the last three works, accompanied by chamber orchestra or a special chamber music combination. Encapsulated by those 6 pieces of music you’ll find a short a capella piece for children’s choir.

“Il Bucaneve” means “the snowdrop” and the text tells the story of a little flower, piercing itself through the snow to see the early spring sun. This is symbolic for any artistic process: a simple idea (or cell) develops into something greater. A related image can be seen on the cover photo, made by Luca Artioli. Luca Artioli also wrote the texts of “I Colori della Gioia” (“The Colors Of Joy”), the aria that gave this album its name.

Jan Van der Roost was born in Duffel, Belgium, in 1956. At a very young age, he was introduced to the prominent names in the concert band, fanfare band and brass band repertoire which inspired him to put something on paper himself. He studied trombone, music history and musical education at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Louvain). He continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoires of Ghent and Antwerp, where he qualified as a conductor and a composer. Jan Van der Roost currently teaches at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Belgium), is special visiting professor at the Shobi Institute of Music in Tokyo, guest professor at the Nagoya University of Art and guest professor at Senzoku Gakuen in Kawasaki (Japan). Besides being a prolific composer he is also very much in demand as an adjudicator, lecturer, holder of clinics and guest conductor. His musical activities have taken place in more than 45 countries in four continents and his compositions have been performed and recorded around the world.