Fontyn, Jacqueline

If Belgians were to name one living composer that truly represents the country’s three official linguistic and cultural communities (Flemish, French speaking and German speaking), they would certainly say Jacqueline Fontyn.

Born in Antwerp in a bilingual family, Jacqueline Fontyn studied in her home town as well as in Brussels, Paris and Vienna, taking lessons with Max Deutsch, Marcel Quinet, and Witold Lutoslawski, among others. She completed her education as an artist in residence at the Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo.

Not only is Jacqueline Fontyn fluent in the three official languages of Belgium, she also speaks Italian and English. In a time of great divisions, her truly cosmopolitan profile stands out. We can also underline her substantial pedagogical contribution at the Brussels Conservatoire where she taught composition and can claim to have helped several composers on their paths to their own musical languages and international careers. While her own remarkable career began in a time where female composers were still looked upon as a rare exception, Jacqueline Fontyn is an inspirational figure for young women who wish to follow such a path.

Jacqueline Fontyn has received many awards, most notably the Spanish Oscar Espla Prize and the Prix Arthur Honegger from the Fondation de France. She was asked to write the set piece, a Violin Concerto, for the finals of the 1976 Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition, and has been commissioned twice by the Koussevitsky Music Foundation at the Library of Congress in Washington DC, in the United States. Since 2006, a large part of Fontyn’s manuscripts have been kept in the music division of the Library of Congress. In 2014 the Royal Library of Belgium acquired most of the remaining manuscripts. Jacqueline Fontyn is a member of the Belgian Royal Academy. In 1993, the King of Belgium granted her the title of baroness in recognition of her artistic merit.

Compositions by Jacqueline Fontyn were selected for and performed at the ISCM World Music Days in Belgium in 1981 and in The Netherlands in 1985.