Jan Boerman was born in The Hague on June 30, 1923. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, piano with Léon Orthel and, from 1945, composition with Hendrik Andriessen. As of 1956, Jan Boerman worked in the electronic studios of Delft Polytechnic, Utrecht State University and of The Hague Royal Conservatory of Music, where he has also taught electronic composition (after 1974) and piano. Boerman has composed a number of orchestral and chamber music works; the main part of his oeuvre, however, consists of electronic music. He has been one of the few composers who persevered in composing for tape. It wasn't until 1976 that Boerman ventured to include "live" sounds in his work: the result was Preparatory study for a Vocalise. It was followed by an "orthodox" tape: Kompositie 1979. For the ensemble Het Nieuwe Leven he composed Weerstand (Resistance, 1982) for tape and percussion, and later Ontketening (Unchainment, 1983) for tape and metal instruments. Boerman has also written electronic ballet music, including De touwen van de tijd (The ropes of time) and Monument voor een gestorven jongen (Monument for a dead boy). Muziek voor slagwerk en orkest (Music for percussion and orchestra, 1991) was performed during the Holland Festival of 1991. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.