 Vriend studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory from 1960 to 1967, with Else Krijgsoman (piano), Anthon van der Horst and Jan Felderhof (music theory), and Ton de Leeuw (composition).During this period he also studied electronic music with Gottfried Michael Koenig at the University of Utrecht.He won the Conservatoire of Amsterdam Prize for Composition (1967), the Schnittger Organ Prize (1966) for his composition "Herfst" (Dutch for Autumn) and the Gaudeamus International Composers Award with "Huantan" in 1970.