timeline

Born on 17 March 1962 in Lier (BE), the eldest son of Elvire Van Wassenhoven and Robert Henderickx

Studied at the Royal Antwerp Conservatoire in Belgium, percussion with Louis Cauberghs. First prizes in music theory, harmony, counterpoint, percussion, fugue and analysis

Music teacher at Sint-Gummarus College and Sint-Aloysius Institute in Lier, his home town in Belgium

Timpani player with the Nieuw Belgisch Kamerorkest conducted by Jan Caeyers. Later, this orchestra became the Beethoven Academie

Start as a lecturer in music theory and analysis at the Royal Antwerp Conservatoire, Belgium

Studied composition at the Royal Antwerp Conservatoire with Willem Kersters

A. De Vleeshouwer Prize from the Royal Antwerp Conservatoire

Biennial composition course ‘Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik’ in Darmstadt, Germany

World premiere of orchestral work ‘Variations’ with the Antwerp Youth and Music Orchestra conducted by Frans Cuypers at De Singel in Antwerp

Lecturer in analysis and composition at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven (BE)

World premiere of ‘Mysterium’ for ten wind instruments with Die Harmonie at De Singel, Antwerp

Marriage Wim Henderickx and Bea Steylaerts

World premiere of ‘Le Visioni di Paura’ with the Nieuw Belgisch Kamerorkest and Wim Henderickx on timpani, conducted by Robert Groslot at De Singel in Antwerp

World premiere of ‘African Suite’ by Guido De Neve (violin) and Wim Henderickx (percussion) at De Singel in Antwerp

Composition prize for contemporary music Flanders-Quebec with the work 'Mysterium'. Wim received the award from the then Canadian Minister of Culture in Quebec

World premiere of ‘2 Nocturnes’ for flute and piano at the Gemeentekrediet National Music Competition in Brussels. The work was composed to mark the birth of his son Ruben

Lecturer in composition at the Royal Antwerp Conservatoire

World premiere of ‘Raga I’ for percussion and two pianos with Gert François, Levente Kende and Heidi Hendrickx at De Singel in Antwerp

World premiere of ‘Raga II (Tombeau)’ with the Beethoven Academie and Wim Henderickx on timpani, conducted by Jan Caeyers, at De Singel in Antwerp

World premiere of ‘Raga III’ for viola and orchestra with Leo De Neve and deFilharmonie (Antwerp Symphony Orchestra), conducted by Muhai Tang at De Singel in Antwerp

Artist-in-residence at Muziektheater Transparant, with Guy Coolen as its young director. Wim and Guy will realise numerous productions together

World premiere of ‘Behouden Stem: Conversations with M.’ by Radoslaw Wielgus (baritone), Gert François and Wim Henderickx (percussion) at De Singel in Antwerp

Cycle IN DEEP SILENCE

Eugène Baie Prize for a young, talented composer

Full CD of the 3 RAGAS for orchestra, with deFilharmonie conducted by Grant Llewellyn, featuring Gert François (percussion) and Leo De Neve (viola)

World premiere of the opera “Triumph of Spirit over Matter” at De Munt / La Monnaie in Brussels

Start of the ‘Composition course with Wim Henderickx’ at Musica Impulscentrum (Neerpelt), later renamed SoundMine

" I have always admired Wim Henderickx as a person. Above all, the composition internship offers an experience that I have never had before, nor since. "

Studied sonology at IRCAM in Paris and the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague

Lecturer in composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Netherlands

World premiere of the youth opera “Achilleus” at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp

World premiere of ‘Orpheus: Magic Singer in the Underworld’ for children’s choir and piano, with 600 children at De Munt/La Monnaie in Brussels

Burkina Faso, Africa with Gert François, featuring the world premiere of “Confrontations” with 10 percussionists and Gert François and Adama Dramé as master drummers. Later that year, Belgian premiere at Zuiderpershuis Antwerp

World premiere of ‘Only Darkness and Shadows’ by Anu Komsi (soprano) and Reval Ensemble, conducted by Risto Joost in Tallinn, Estonia

Release of the full CD ‘Confrontations’ by Zuiderpershuis in Antwerp

Travel to India and Nepal

Start of professional collaboration with partner Bea Steylaerts

World premiere of “The Seven Chakras” (Tantric Cycle) for string quartet and electronics with the Spiegel String Quartet and live electronics by Jorrit Tamminga at De Singel in Antwerp - start of the intense collaboration with Jorrit Tamminga

World premiere of ‘Only Darkness and Shadows’ in the version for soprano and orchestra by Anu Komsi and the Beethoven Academie, conducted by Tonu Kaljuste at De Singel in Antwerp

TANTRIC CYCLE, with seven compositions inspired by the East

World premiere of ‘Maya’s Dream’ for oboe and ensemble at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam

World premiere of ‘Memento Mori’ for piano by Bart Meuris in Lier, on the occasion of the retrospective and 50th birthday of Wim’s good friend and painter Ronald De Preter

World premiere of ‘Nada Brahma’ (Tantric Cycle) by Rolande Van der Paal and ChampdAction conducted by James Wood at Augustinus (now Amuz) in Antwerp during Music@Venture, curated by Jonathan Harvey

Start of collaboration with Diederik Glorieux as musical assistant, with ‘Een Totale Entführung’ (A Total Abduction)

Danish premiere of youth opera ‘Achilleus’ at the opera house in Copenhagen in a Danish translation

World premiere of ‘Olek schoot een Beer…’ (Olek shot a Bear…) with Bart Moeyaert, author and city poet of Antwerp in 2005-2006, and soloists from the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Ivan Meylemans in Flagey, Brussels

" Working for a young audience is an important part of my life. Achilleus was an opera for young people. With Olek schoot een beer (an adaptation of The Firebird with lyrics by Bart Moeyaert, ed.), we got the youngest generation excited this year. "

Nomination for the Flemish Culture Awards

World premiere of ‘Een Totale Entführung' with the Beethoven Academie conducted by Koen Kessels and directed by Ramsey Nasr, at De Singel in Antwerp

World premiere of ‘Void (Sunyata)’ with Oxalys, Phil Minton (vocal artist) and four singers conducted by Wim Henderickx, Wouter Van Looy (director), Jorrit Tamminga (live electronics), Hans Op de Beeck (visual concept) and Gert Op de Beeck (video), at the Zürcher Theater Spektakel in Switzerland. Later that year, Belgian premiere at De Singel in Antwerp, Dutch premiere in Rotterdam and Norwegian premiere in Stavanger

World premiere of ‘Canzone’ for voice and piano, commissioned by the Queen Elisabeth Competition for the semi-finals (12 performances in Brussels)

World premiere of ‘Disappearing in Light’ with HERMESensemble conducted by Wim Henderickx, in Kanaal Wijnegem (BE). It marked the start of an intense collaboration with this ensemble

World premiere of TEJAS with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden at De Singel in Antwerp

Canvas TV report on Wim Henderickx, he was followed for six months by a camera crew for “Canvas Klassiek”. The report was entitled “An Easterner lost in the West” (Een Oosterling verdwaald in het westen)

World premiere of ‘Mudra’ for ensemble by the Nieuw Ensemble conducted by Ed Spanjaard at the Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ in Amsterdam (NL)

World premiere of ‘Nostalgia’ for seven Middle Eastern instruments with Atlas Ensemble conducted by Wim Henderickx at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam

World premiere of “Groove!” for percussion and orchestra with Gert François and the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero at the Concertgebouw Bruges (BE)

" Those who followed Wim's recent work were literally overwhelmed by his Groove!, his recent concerto for percussion and orchestra, but on the other hand “intimidated” by the unexpected intimacy of Mudra, the final piece of the Tantric Cycle. "

Career award ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ in his hometown of Lier, Belgium

World premiere of ‘Medea’ with Muziektheater Transparant, Selva Erdener (Turkish soprano), HERMESensemble and De Veenfabriek in De Singel. The work toured Belgium and the Netherlands

" All in all, I saw an evocation of the ancient Greek myth in which the music caused the text to burst open like ripe fruit. "

Full CD with DeFilharmonie “Tejas & other orchestral works” conducted by Martyn Brabbins

Dutch premiere of ‘Tejas’ with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (NTR Saturday Matinee)

Full CD ‘Disappearing in Light’ with HERMESensemble conducted by Wim Henderickx

World premiere of ‘Lamento di Medea’ with Selva Erdener and HERMESensemble conducted by Wim Henderickx, at the Venice Biennale, Italy

World premiere of “Symphony No. 1 (At the Edge of the World)” with the National Belgian Orchestra conducted by Stefan Blunier at the Salle de concerts Grande-Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte in Luxembourg. Later that year, Belgian premiere at Bozar, Brussels

World premiere of ‘Atlantic Wall’ with HERMESensemble conducted by Wim Henderickx at De Singel in Antwerp. Later performances with Kurt Ralske’s video in Belgium, the Netherlands, Venice and Tasmania

Affiliation with the publishing house Norsk Musikkforlag in Oslo for his entire oeuvre

Start Artist-in-Residency bij Antwerp Symphony Orchestra

CD ‘Works for Wind Instruments’ door I Solisti met vier werken van Wim Henderickx

World première ‘The New Ring’ met De Nederlandse Opera en Kamerkoor PA’dam o.l.v. Anthony Heidweiller en Jorrit Tamminga in het Stadhuis in Amsterdam

World premiere of ‘Empty Mind I’ for oboe and electronics by Piet van Bockstal and Jorrit Tamminga in collaboration with ChampdAction/Studio in Lausanne, Switzerland

Full CD ‘Triptych’ with HERMESensemble conducted by Wim Henderickx

World premiere of ‘De Koningin Zonder Land’ (The Queen Without a Country) with Muziektheater Transparant, singers from Silbersee and Wouter Van Looy as director at the Summer of Antwerp Festival (Zomer van Antwerpen)

Large-scale project ‘Antifoon (A Resonating Bridge—The Sound of Hasselt-Genk)’ with 500 musicians on the Tuikabel Bridge in Hasselt-Genk, conducted by Wim Henderickx

First ‘SoundMine for orchestra’ with Antwerp Symphony Orchestra conducted by Wim Henderickx

World premiere of ‘Oboe Concerto (Empty Mind I)’ with Piet Van Bockstal (oboe), Jorrit Tamminga and ChampdAction/Studio (electronics) and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins at De Singel in Antwerp

Member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts (KVAB)

World premiere of “Visioni ed Estasi” with three professional choirs, seven amateur choirs and electronics in St Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen during the International Tenso Days

World premiere of “Blossomings” with the BBC Singers and Marco Blaauw (trumpet) conducted by Martyn Brabbins at LSO St Luke’s in London, UK

Release of double CD with Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Pieterjan Vranckx (percussion) and Piet Van Bockstal (oboe) conducted by Edo de Waart and Martyn Brabbins

" Henderickx's first symphony is both a stunning demonstration of compositional craftsmanship and an impressive testimony to authentic and original artistic inspiration. "

Nomination for ‘Composer of the Year’ by the Norwegian Music Publishers Association in the Classical Contemporary Music Series

World premiere of ‘Symphony No. 2 (Aquarius’ Dream)’ with Claron McFadden and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thierry Fischer in the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp with Jorrit Tamminga (electronics) and Luigi de Angelis and Sergio Policicchio (visual concept and lighting design)

World premiere of dance performance EAST with ‘Requiem’ at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen with choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

World premiere of the musical theatre performance ‘Revelations’ with Lore Binon (soprano), Wim Henderickx as conductor and percussionist, Muziektheater Transparant, Cappella Amsterdam and HERMESensemble at De Singel during the Opera21 Festival

World premiere of Sacred Places I (Angel) with Dominique Vleeshouwers at Concertgebouw Bruges (BE)

Release full CD Nostalgia

World premiere of “Recorder Concerto (Empty Mind I)” with Erik Bosgraaf (recorder), Philharmonie Zuid-Nederland and Jorrit Tamminga (electronics) conducted by Wim Henderickx at Klokgebouw Strijp-S in Eindhoven, the Netherlands

World premiere of “Cello Concerto (Sangita)” with Jean-Guihen Queyras and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra conducted by Klaus Mäkelä at the Cello Biennale in Amsterdam

World premiere of “Pulses of the Earth” with Youth Orchestra Flanders conducted by Edwin Outwater at Flagey, Brussels

World premiere of “Harp Concertino (after a soft silence, an enormous thunder...)” with Agnès Clément and the Symphony Orchestra of La Monnaie / De Munt conducted by Alain Altinoglu at Bozar, Brussels

Estonian premiere of “Blossomings” with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Indrek Vau (trumpet) conducted by Kaspars Putniņš at the World Music Days in Tallinn, Estonia

World premiere of “Enigma VII” with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins at the Royal Albert Hall at the BBC Proms in London, UK

World premiere of “Sacred Places IV (Preparing to Pray)” with Black Pencil and Jorrit Tamminga at the Nieuwe Veste Concert Hall in Breda, the Netherlands. Turkish premiere in Istanbul later that year

World premiere of “Colors” conducted by Diederik Glorieux, Hendrik Vanden Abeele and Hannes Vanlancker in Kortrijk at the Wilde Westen Festival (BE)

Launch as seasonal composer at Concertgebouw Bruges for the 2020-2021 season. Due to the lockdown, many live concerts could not take place

Online concert “Memento Mori” with Emmy Wils at Concertgebouw Bruges and Wim Henderickx discussed his entire oeuvre in detail

Release of the full CD “Revelations” by Antarctica Records, featuring Lore Binon, the Flemish Radio Choir, the HERMESensemble and Jorrit Tamminga, conducted by Wim Henderickx

Online Belgian premiere of “Cello Concerto (Sangita)” with Victor Julien-Laferrière and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Gerts in the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp

Online world premiere of “Songs of Nature” with Ilse Eerens and B'Rock Orchestra conducted by Wim Henderickx and directed by Shuang Zou, at the KLARA Festival in Brussels. Later that year, Chinese premiere with Jingjing Li and Shanghai Camerata conducted by Song Gao in Shanghai, followed by a tour throughout China

'Visioni ed Estasi' conducted by Wim Henderickx & Diederik Glorieux at the World Choir Games 2021 in Antwerp

CD recording “Clarinet Concerto (Sutra)” with Annelien Van Wauwe and NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover conducted by Andrew Manze in Hannover, Germany

Surprise party “Wim Henderickx 60” at De Singel in Antwerp with Muziektheater Transparant and HERMESensemble

Release of CD FLOW featuring “Clarinet Concerto (Sutra)” by Annelien Van Wauwe, Jorrit Tamminga and NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover conducted by Andrew Manze

World premiere of “Clarinet Concerto (Sutra)” by Annelien Van Wauwe and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins at the City Halls in Glasgow, Scotland

Belgian premiere of “Clarinet Concerto (Sutra)” by Annelien Van Wauwe, Jorrit Tamminga and NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover conducted by Andrew Manze at De Singel in Antwerp

World premiere of the opera “De Bekeerlinge (The Convert)”, based on the book of the same name by Stefan Hertmans, with a libretto by Krystian Lada and direction and scenography by Hans Op de Beeck, at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp, Belgium

" Music and imagery form a powerful alliance in this moving production. Wim Henderickx, Hans Op de Beeck and librettist Krystian Lada faced the delicate task of translating this complex story, with its psychological, philosophical and religious components, onto the stage in a clear and accessible way. They succeeded with flying colours. "

" Henderickx remains faithful to the language he developed during his impressive career as a composer. The recognisable, recurring theme “Once upon a dream” has the potential to become a true classic. "

" Right from the musically impressive opening scene, Wim Henderickx seems to have reinvented himself. The excessive beauty of some of his earlier works is captured in a grand harmonic and melodic structure, which eagerly draws on elements from many cultures and yet unites them in a lyrical, emotional language. "

Seasonal composer with the Belgian National Orchestra with “Pulses of the Earth” conducted by Antony Hermus at Bozar in Brussels

'Songs of Nature' receives prestigious GanLan Award in China

" Songs of Nature, performed at the Red Theatre in Sanlitun Beijing, is not only a bold exploration by Shuang Zou, the artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival, but also the biggest surprise of this year's music festival. "

Sudden death of Wim Henderickx on 18 December 2022

" When you worked with Wim Henderickx, magic always happened. And we are going to miss that enormously. Wim believed it was important to put his music at the service of the wider community. He knew exactly what he was doing, but at the same time he was very modest. He always had an open mind. The common thread in the massive reactions to his death is the composer's warm, enthusiastic personality. We know of no one who had such a positive outlook on the world. We must cherish his unstoppable enthusiasm and, in his honour, we are obliged to be less cynical, bitter and cold. His attitude to life is an example to us all. "