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The Belgian conductor, David De Geest, is the son of the Ghent Cathedral organist Edward De Geest. He attended musical courses at the local Academy of Music and Drama where he was awarded the diploma for piano in the class of his mother Monique Lanszweert and received the ‘Charter of the City of Eeklo’ for piano. After his high-school studies in Latin-Mathematics, he studied at the Royal Ghent Conservatory (2002-2007) and graduated in 2007 as Master in Music (option Music Theory) with great distinction. He also received the Pedagogic diploma to teach in several music disciplines. His main courses included harmony, counterpoint and fugue, choral and orchestral conducting, composition, musical analysis and music history. For choral and orchestral conducting he was awarded greatest distinction. In regard to choir conducting, he studied in Germany with Roderich Kreile (Dresdner Kreuzchor) and Karl-Friedrich Beringer (Windsbacher Knabenchor). At Oxford University David followed the specialization ‘Choral Conducting and Voice Training’ with Dr. Edward Higginbottom (Choir of New College, Oxford).
In June, 2008 David De Geest was appointed conductor of the Schola Cantorum Cantate Domino of the St. Martin's Institute (Aalst, Belgium) and held this post until February 2015. He conducted works for choir and orchestra such as Charpentier's Te Deum, Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria, J.S. Bach's cantata Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (BWV 190), George Frideric Handel's Coronation Anthems & Wedding Anthem ‘ing unto God, W.A. Mozart's Trinity Mass, Sparrow Mass, Coronation Mass & Requiem and Haydn’s Nelson Mass. In 2013, he onducted Schola Cantorum Cantate Domino in a Belgian premiere of Vanhal's Missa Pastoralis in G and Haydn's Missa Solemnis in C. Next to the guest conducting by David with the Dresdner Kreuzchor and The Choir of New College, Oxford, he conducted the Giovanile Arcantico orchestra of Milan, the ensembles Aspetti Musicali and ‘arc-en-ciel’, the Schola Cantorum of Mexico, the Plovdiv Boys’ Choir, the Sofia Boys' Choir, the Tokorozawa Fény Children's Choir (Japan), the Miyagi Sanjo OG Choir (Japan) and Ensemble Sylphied - Mozart Choral Ensemble Japan. He worked together with conductors such as Roderich Kreile, Edward Higginbottom, PierAngelo Pelucchi, Alfredo Mendoza, Milka Toledova, Adriana Blagoeva, Sachiko Mager, Kanezo Kori, Tsutomu Masuko, Claire Gibault (Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra) and Gabriel Garrido (Ensemble Elyma).
David De Geest conducted Schola Cantorum Cantate Domino a.o. in the St. Mary Catholic Cathedral (Tokyo, Japan), the Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral (Seoul, South Korea), the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Sofia, Bulgaria), the Basilica di San Nicolò (Lecco, Italy), the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Rome, Italy), the Basilica de la Virgen de Guadelupe (Mexico City) and the Templo de Santo Domingo (Puebla, Mexico). He performed in concert halls such as the Centre for Fine Arts BOZAR in Brussels, CENART (Mexico City), Palácio Foz (Lisboa, Portugal), and the Seinen Bunka Center (Sendai, Japan); in South Korea, David conducted in the Jeonju Sori Arts Center, the Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Center, KBS Hall Seoul, Daegu Suseong Artpia and the Seoul Arts Center.
In Belgium, David De Geest performed for the Royal Family at the Royal Castle of Ciergnon on the occasion of Princess Eléonore’s baptism and equally on Princess Laetitia’s First Communion, the latter in collaboration with strings of the National Orchestra of Belgium. During concert tours, he conducted Schola Cantorum Cantate Domino in the presence of Belgian Ambassadors; this happened in the period from 2009 until 2011 for H.E. Mr. Marc Michielsen, Belgium’s Ambassador to Bulgaria (Sofia, July 28, 2009), for H.E. Mr. Pierre Clément Dubuisson, Belgium’s Ambassador to South Korea (Seoul, July 13, 2010), for H.E. Mr. Jean--‐Michel Veranneman de Watervliet, Belgium’s Ambassador to Portugal (Lisbon, November 12-13, 2010), for H.E. Mr. Boudewijn Dereymaeker, Belgium’s Ambassador to Mexico (Mexico City, July 5, 2011), and for H.E. Mr. Luc Liebaut, Belgium’s Ambassador to Japan (Tokyo, July 7, 2012). Since August 2015, he is Conductor/Artistic Director of Lumen Symphonicum vzw, a new symphonic orchestra formed by a group of talented young professional musicians.
In the field of education, David De Geest has served as Teacher Music Theory/Composition at Kunstacademie Lokeren in
Belgium (since September 2007); Teacher-Conductor at Kunsthumaniora Brussel (since September 2012; Guest
Professor at Erasmushogeschool Brussel / Conductor of the Choir of the Royal Conservatory Brussels (since October 2013). |
