Bruggen, Frans

views updated

Bruggen, Frans

Bruggen, Frans, distinguished Dutch recorder player, flutist, and conductor; b. Amsterdam, Oct. 30, 1934. He studied the recorder with Kees Otten and flute at the Amsterdam Muzieklyceum; in addition, took courses in musicology at the Univ. of Amsterdam. He then launched a major career as a virtuoso performer of music for the recorder; as a flute soloist, he was equally at home in performances of the Baroque masters and contemporary avant- garde composers; also gave informative lectures and illustrative performances of recorder music in Europe, and taught at the Royal Cons, in The Hague. In 1981 he founded the Orch. of the 18thCentury, which he conducted with fine success on both sides of the Atlantic. He also was artistic director of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orch. in Hilversum (1991–94) and joint principal guest conductor of the Orch. of the Age of Enlightenment in London (from 1992).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire