Dirk Blockeel was born in 1955 in Roeselare. After studying Dutch, English and German at the Teachers’ Training College in Torhout, he studied music at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven and the Royal Conservatory in Ghent. He was awarded first prizes in solfège, practical and theoretical harmony, fugue, counterpoint, organ, harpsichord and music history.
Since November 1992 he has been organist at St Martin’s church in Kortrijk. In 1994 he received a second prize in composition with his teacher Roland Coryn. Blockeel also works frequently as an accompanist and teacher of organ, harpsichord, ensemble playing and accompanying at the music academies in Izegem and Harelbeke.
In addition, Dirk Blockeel lectures on the cantatas of J.S. Bach, and traces of this intensive study of Bach can be heard in his compositions. He handles the relationship between text and music in a creative way and challenges formal structures; for example, one thing he likes to do is to add a voice to an existing Bach work.
In addition to his love of music, he keeps intensely occupied with language and literature. He writes articles, including literary criticism and reflective pieces, primarily for the quarterly artistic magazine Ambrozijn. He has also written articles for the monthly magazine Kunst & Cultuur, published by the Paleis voor Schone Kunsten.
Dirk Blockeel often has works commissioned by friends and sets texts by friends who are poets. He prefers above all to perform his compositions himself along with people from his circle of friends.