Johan de Meij

Johan de Meij

Biography

Johan de Meij (pronounced "de my") (b. 23 November 1953, Voorburg, Netherlands) is a Dutch conductor, composer and arranger living in the United States.

De Meij studied trombone and conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music at The Hague. His catalogue consists of original compositions, symphonic transcriptions and arrangements of film scores and musicals.

De Meij’s Symphony No. 1, Lord of the Rings, based on Tolkien's best-selling novels of the same name, was his first substantial composition for symphonic band and received the Sudler Composition Award in 1989. In 2001, the orchestral version was premiered by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. The Lord of the Rings was recorded over twenty times, performed by orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra. His other larger compositions include Symphony No. 2, The Big Apple, T-Bone Concerto (trombone concerto), UFO Concerto (euphonium) and Casanova (cello concerto). Casanova was awarded the First Prize at the International Composition Competition of Corciano [Italy] in 1999, and a year later, De Meij won the Oman International Composition Prize with The Red Tower.

Besides composing, Johan de Meij is active in various musical fields. He is a trombonist with the orchestra “De Volharding” (The Perseverance), and as a regular substitute with various other ensembles and orchestras. He is also a guest conductor and clinician: he has conducted concerts and led seminars in almost all European countries, in Japan, Singapore, Brazil, and the United States. In 2010, he was appointed regular guest conductor of the renowned Simon Bolivar Youth Wind Orchestra in Caracas, Venezuela. He became the principal guest conductor of the New York Wind Symphony and the Kyushu Wind Orchestra in Fukuoka, Japan, in 2014.

Works for Winds

• African Harmony (2017)
• Aladdin Suite (as arranger)
• Aquarium (1991)
• At Kitty O'Shea's (2011)
• Beatles Collection (as arranger) (1982)
• Canticles (2007)
• Casanova (2000)
• Celtic Classics (2016)
• Ceremonial Fanfare (2005)
• Chanson de Matin (as arranger) (c. 1890/1988)
• Clair de lune (as arranger) (1890/1905/2017)
• Cloud Factory (2011)
• Continental Overture (1997)
• Copacabana (as arranger)
• Downtown Divertimento (2014)
• Dutch Masters Suite (2008)
• Echoes of San Marco (2016)
• Edgar (as arranger) (1889/2008)
• Extreme Make-over (2004)
• Extreme Beethoven (2012)
• Fellini (2015)
• Festive Hymn (2007)
• Fifty Shades of E (2016)
• Highlights from "Riverdance" (as arranger) (1994/2014)
• Highlights from the Seville Suite (as arranger) (1992/2011)
• Honky Tonk Ragtime (as arranger) (1985)
• Jazz Suite No. 2 (as arranger) (post-1956/1994)
  • March (as arranger) (post-1956/1994)
  • Lyric Waltz (as arranger) (post-1956/1995)
  • Dance I (as arranger) (post-1956/1994)
  • Dance II (as arranger) (post-1956/1994)
  • Waltz No. 2 (as arranger) (post-1956/1994)
  • Finale (as arranger) (post-1956/1994)
• Joropo (as arranger)
• Jupiter Hymn (as arranger)
• Klezmer Classics (2004)
• La Fanciulla del West (as arranger) (1910/2008)
• La Quintessenza (1990/1998)
• Les Papillons (as editor)
• Loch Ness (1988)
• Lord of the Rings. See: Symphony No. 1
• Lord of the Rings (arr. Lavender) (1987/2001)
• Los Cuatro Vientos (2021)
• Madurodam (1997)
• March to Mars (as arranger) (1987)
• Marche Americana (as editor) (1997)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (as arranger) (1826/2022)
• Moment for Morricone (as arranger) (1966/1996)
• Mondriaan (2021)
• Musical Highlights from "Chess" (as arranger) (1993)
• The Painted Bird (2021)
• Pavane (as arranger) (1899/1991)
• Pennsylvania Faux Songs (2018)
• Phantom of the Opera (as arranger)
• Polish Christmas Music, Part I (1995)
• Ratatouille Satirique (as arranger) (/1994)
• Romeo and Juliet (as arranger). See: Suite from the Ballet "Romeo & Juliet"
• Rotterdam 1945 (2019)
• Sinfonietta No. 1 (2011/2012)
• Songs from the Catskills (2012)
• Spring (2010)
• Star Wars Saga (as arranger) (1987)
• Suite for Variety Orchestra (as arranger) (post 1956/1994)
• Suite from the Ballet "Romeo & Juliet" (as arranger) (1935/1990)
• Summer (2013)
• Symphony No. 1 (1987)
  • Gandalf (The Wizard)
  • Lothlorien (The Elvenwood)
  • Gollum (Smeagol)
  • Journey in the Dark
  • Hobbits
• Symphony No. 2 (1993)
• Symphony No. 3 (2007)
• Symphony No. 4 (2013)
• Symphony No. 5 (2018)
  • Ancalagon, the Black (2018)
• UFO Concerto (2012)
• T-Bone Concerto (1996)
• Te Deum (as transcriber) (1900/2010)
• Two-Bone Concerto (2016)
• Teddy Trombone (as arranger)
• Un Momento Dado (2021)
• The Venetian Collection
  • Empire of Light
  • Magic Garden
  • The Red Tower
  • Voice of Space
• Via Claudia (2012)
• Wind in the Willows (2002)
• Windy City Overture (2006)
• The Witches' Sabbath (as arranger)
• The Woman in White (as arranger) (2006)
• The Year 2020 (2022)

Resources

• Johan de Meij, personal correspondence, January 2018
• Johan de Meij website
• Camphouse, Mark (ed.) (2004). Composers on composing for band, volume two. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications. pp. 39–61.
• "WASBEWorldwide Winds Video No. 9." YouTube, 9 February 2021. Web. Accessed 11 February 2021