Nicholas Lens
- Composer
- Writer
- Producer
The author / composer Nicholas Lens was born in Ypres, a small
provincial town near the French boarder in Belgium. He started studying
violin with his godfather when he was five. Once when he was playing in
a very enthusiastic way during the lessons, his bow touched, by
accident, the director of the local academy on one of his vital organs.
So the little Nicholas' violin career ended when he was ten. His first
television appearance was as a trumpet player when he was eleven. He
was asked to play "The Last Post" at an official ceremony at a British
and American war cemetery. Nicholas was wearing short pants and it was
freezing cold. The television crew members offered him some brandy. The
version of "The Last Post" he played during the ceremony on his trumpet
was never heard before. Later on, while he was studying at the Royal
Conservatory of Music in Brussels, he started composing professionally
for theatrical projects, film and television. While he was a member of
the National Orchestra of Belgium, the conductor Mendi Rodan offered
him a contract as a double bass player in the Israel Sinfonietta in
Beersheeva, Israel. He had to make an important choice between the
career of a professional musician and the uncertain life conditions of
an autodidact composer. He made his choice. Meanwhile he was caught by
the virus of globe trotting. Inspired by this new passion, adventurous
traveling, he started to create a musical oeuvre of the maze of images
gathered in his mind. His work as a composer is published by Schott
Musik International, Mainz/New York and distributed by Sony/Bmg
International. Currently Lens writes an opera called 'Slow man' in
co-operation with John M. Coetzee, based on his novel. Nicholas Lens is
a single father and lives in Brussels with his nine year old
daughter.