Theo Loevendie was reported missing twice as a toddler because he took the expression ‘follow the music’ quite literally and followed a brass band on parade. Music was his greatest inspiration since childhood. At home, the only music he got to hear were kitsch folk songs, but his teacher at elementary school introduced him to other music. ‘At school, I was experimenting with instruments all day long. My teacher said: That’s what they call composing, and the best composer ever was J.S. Bach!’ The Second World War delayed matters until 1947 when he picked up an instrument himself. Loevendie went to the conservatory and became head teacher of composition at several conservatories. As a composer, he travelled around the world for years to lecture about performances of his music and to give masterclasses to young composers. He also remains loyal to jazz music, which he learned as a teenager after the war. Loevendie is not only a composer but also a gifted narrator, he recently recorded his adventurous life in Memoirs of a composer.

Theo Loevendie lives in Amsterdam and is currently busy composing new pieces. throughout his career, he has received several prizes for his oeuvre, including the Wessel Ilcken Prize (the predecessor of the vpro / Boy Edgar Prize), the Matthijs Vermeulen Prize and the American Koussevitzky Award. He also won an Edison twice.