Janpieter Biesemans was born on 16 November 1939 in Vilvoorde. He studied at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven and the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory in Antwerp. His teachers included Marinus De Jong, Jef Schampaert, August Verbesselt, Marcel Slootmaeckers, Lode Dieltiens, Jos Van Looy, Jacqueline Fonteyn, Jan Decadt and Flor Peeters. In 1964, he founded the ensemble Consortium Antiquum and devoted the next 23 years to the interpretation of early music. Since 1980 he has concentrated on composition. At present he has some one hundred opus numbers to his name. Many of his works, including his Deutsche Johannes-Passion (created in 1987 by the Vocal Ensemble of the Brussels Opera), have been performed in St Martin’s Church in Meise and in deSingel in Antwerp. His works have also been played at a number of competitions, including the Orpheus Competition. CD recordings of his works have also been made, including the Sonate Concertante, Discorso a cinque per trombono solo, Vijf Slovaakse stukken voor blokfluit (Five Slovakian Pieces for Recorder) and Why not, Hans. Besides his work as a composer, Biesemans is also a solfège teacher at the conservatory in Antwerp and the director of the Akademie voor Muzische Kunsten in Meise. He was also instrumental in the founding of the Werkgroep Kunstonderwijs (Work Group for Arts Education), which works for the rights of students in the Flemish part-time arts-education system. He passed away in 2016.