Johan Fostier

Last Updated (Wednesday, 10 March 2010 21:13) Written by Jacob Thursday, 12 February 2009 10:20

Jury of the Tromp Music Competition   (Holland-1998)
Recognized worldwide as an accomplished performer, guitarist Johan Fostier has won first prizes in four international competitions (Guitar Foundation of America 2001, Cosenza 2000, Mottola 1999, Tromp Muziek 1998).
Using an expressive technique serving musicality and enabling him to paint beautiful soundscapes, he performs regularly in recital or as soloist, and with various chamber music ensembles, his repertoire spanning from Renaissance and Baroque lute music to Latin swaying rhythms, through 19th century virtuosi and the great 20th century neo-classical musicians, not  forgetting the Spanish tradition and contemporary music.

Having earned his Superior Diplomas in guitar (with highest honors) and chamber music (with honors) from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, Johan Fostier first continued his studies under Alberto Ponce at the Ecole normale de Musique in Paris where he earned the Diplôme Supérieur d'Exécution and the Diplôme de Concertiste with the congratulation of the jury, and then with Joaquim Freire, at the Fribourg Conservatory  (Switzerland) where he earned the Diploma of Virtuosity summa cum laude and with the congratulation of the jury too in 2001. He has also studied in international seminars with Eduardo Isaac, Nigel North, David Starobin, and followed master classes by Manuel Barrueco and David Russel. His musical thinking has been especially marked by his meeting with musician , teacher and director Guy Van Waas and great guitarist Susanne Mebes under whom he perfected his art.

He performed the greatest concerti for guitar with the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, the Kaliningrad Philharmonic Orchestra,  the Orchestre de Chambre de Wallonie, the Orchestre du Conservatoire de Bruxelles, Prima la Musica, the Orchestre du Brabant,  the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the first Belgian musician to be invited to perform as a soloist with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in the famous Tchaikovsky Hall.

He has been acclaimed on stages in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands (notably the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam), in France, Italy, throughout Russia, the Unites States and Canada.

He is a member of the Take Four Guitar Quartet,  of the Almaviva guitar-voice duet (with Evelyne Bohen), and performs with flutist Sandrine Desmet, cellist Stijn Kuppens, violinist Hans van Kerkhoven and actors Vincent Dujardin (Platero y yo) and Catherine Lambrecht (Le plaisir des sens).
He has recorded two solo CDs, two CDs with the Take Four Guitar Quartet and one CD with the Almaviva Duet.