

Johan de Meij

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Johan de Meij


Johan de Meij (b. 23 November 1953, Voorburg, Netherlands; last name pronounced "de my") is a Dutch 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