Firmin
DECERF i s
a laureate of the Lemmens Institute
(Malines-Louvain) where he studied organ and
educational theory of music. Professor emeritus of
organ and improvisation at the IMEP (Institut
Supérieur de Musique et de pédagogie
Musicale) at Namur, he also is permanently titular
of the Schumacher organ of the Saint-Pierre church
in Bastogne.
Improvisation,
which he worked on for two years with
Pierre Cochereau in Paris and in Nice, has
become one of his specialties. He regularly gives
concerts in Belgium and abroad. In 1987 and in
1995, Firmin Decerf was on two tours of organ
concerts in the U.S.A. He realised several
recordings for the R.T.B.F. (French speaking
Belgian Radio and Television) and recorded a number
of compact disks dedicated to improvisation, in
1991 and in 1995 on the organ of which he is
titular, in 1993 on the organ of the Abbey of Orval
and in 1998 an improvisation disk on piano. In
2001, his latest disk entitled « Le
Chemin de Croix et la Résurrection (The
Stations of the Cross and the
Resurrection) » was awarded at several
occasions by the written press and the
« Magazine de l'Orgue (Magazine of the
Organ) » awarded him a « Coup
de Chapeau (A feather in your
cap) ».
His
activity also covers the field of the modern
liturgical chanting, in particular by the recording
of a repertoire of chants adapted to the different
periods of the liturgical year, by participating at
liturgical music festivals and by the composition
of liturgical chants. The liturgy, of which he is
particularly fond being an organist, will always be
for him a moment of privilege in his professional
life. He also collaborated on the recording of
several records of liturgical music, released by
S.M. in Paris and by L.E.V. in Lyon.
In
the framework of Brussels 2000, he participated as
Belgian specialist of improvisation in
« Organum Novum », musical
association for the promotion of the organ. In
October 2001, he created the Organ Festival of
Bastogne and in July 2003, during the
International Festival of Wiltz (Grand Duchy of
Luxemburg) he gave a
« master-class » improvisation
on the organ.
from
Firmin Decerf
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