Jelle Van Giel Antwerpen, Belgium

Jelle (1986) got his first drum kit when he was two years old. From the age of six he took private lessons and then attended music school at the academy in Turnhout. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp as a master in jazz / light music (2009) as well as from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (2011). Over the years his interest in composition grew and he decided to take composition lessons with Kris Defoort at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Here he obtained a bachelor's degree in composition jazz / light music (2013). Afterwards he studied composition for another year with Bert Joris at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (2014). Jelle plays in various groups that also extend beyond jazz. He has performed at many stages and festivals at home and abroad, including in China, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Iceland, Romania, Latvia, England and France. He shared the stage with renowned artists such as Toots Thielemans, Jef Neve, Ack Van Rooyen, Bob Mintzer, Bert Joris, ... As a composer he has already released two (jazz) albums under his own name, Songs For Everyone (2015) & The Journey (2017), which were very well received. He is also active in the hafabra world where he writes compositions and arrangements for various orchestras. Jelle arranged several songs from his albums by Jelle Van Giel Group for the 75th anniversary of the orchestra of the Belgian Navy. His other hafabra compositions travel around Europe and are played in Denmark, Austria,… He arranges for Hal Leonard, Het Geluidshuis (audio books) and since 2019 has also been active as a composer for series / film. He contributed to the second season of Over Water, as assistant composer for Raf Keunen. He also works for Michel Bisceglia as an assistant composer.