Alain Crepin, a many-sided musician, was born on February 28th 1954 at Mettet (Belgium). At first he studied saxophone, violoncello and piano at Dinant; later on he went to study the saxophone with François Danneels at the Royal Brussels Conservatory of Music. He graduated from this prestigious conservatory with a Higher Degree for saxophone and chamber music as well as First prizes for harmony and counterpoint. Moreover, he also studied fugue and orchestration.

At present he is professor of saxophone at the Brussels ‘Conservatoire Royal de Musique’ and professor of orchestration and conducting at the Conservatory of Music of Esch-sur-Alzette (Grand Duchy of Luxemburg).

Since 1983 he is a military bandmaster with the rank of an officer and for 21 years he was musical director of the Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Air Force. King Albert II promoted Alain Crepin to the rank of major on December 26th 2004 and on until August 31th 2008 he was appointed artistic director of all the bands of the Belgian Army.

As a soloist or conductor he has recorded some 60 compact discs and performed all over the world. He accompanied the greatest saxophone players at the European Saxophone Days at Dinant in 1990 and at the World Saxophone Congresses in Minneapolis (Minnesota 2003) and Ljubljana (Slovenia 2006). As a virtuosos saxophonist he was also Vice President of the (Association Internationale pour l'Essor du Saxophone) and he is currently a board member of the “A.SAX” (Association pour le Saxophone). Since 1994, Alain Crepin is also an active member of the “AIAS” (Association Internationale Adolphe Sax / International Adolphe Sax Association) at Dinant. He was secretary of the jury of the International Saxophone Contests at Dinant in 1994, 1998 and 2002, and since 2005 he is president of this jury. Every four year he conducts the gathering of saxophonists from all over the world honouring the inventor of their instrument (in 2006 they were no less than 1402!).

As a composer, Alain Crepin wrote numerous works for symphonic band as well as a lot of solo instrumental pieces with piano accompaniment. Most of these compositions have been recorded on CD and performed by famous wind bands and orchestras in many countries.
Crepin’s compositions are published as well in Belgium (with Andel, HaFaBra Martinus, Bayard-Nizet) as in France (with Henry Lemoine – Paris and Robert Martin – Mâcon) and in The Netherlands (with De Haske Publications and Tierolff Muziekcentrale).

These numerous activities do not prevent him from adjudicating in Belgium and abroad (at the Paris 'Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique', as well as in Nice, Munich, Valencia, Taiwan, Madrid, Israel, Trento ... Moreover, he also gives several master-classes e.g. in Vienna, Jerusalem, Gap (France), Alicante (Spain),Szczecin(Poland), Madrid (Spain, Caracas (Venezuela) etc…

Jan Van der Roost was born in Duffel, Belgium, in 1956. At a very young age he was introduced to the prominent names in the concert band, fanfare band and brass band repertoire which inspired him to put something on paper himself. He studied trombone, music history and musical education at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Louvain). He continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoires of Ghent and Antwerp, where he qualified as a conductor and a composer.

Jan Van der Roost currently teaches at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Belgium), is special visiting professor at the Shobi Institute of Music in Tokyo, guest professor at the Nagoya University of Art and guest professor at Senzoku Gakuen in Kawasaki (Japan). Besides being a prolific composer he is also very much in demand as an adjudicator, lecturer, holder of clinics and guest conductor. His musical activities have taken place in more than 45 countries in four continents and his compositions have been performed and recorded around the world.
His list of works covers a wide variety of genres and styles, including two oratorios, a children’s opera, a cantata, a symphony and some smaller works for symphony orchestra, a guitar concerto (dedicated to Joaquin Rodrigo), a concerto for trumpet and string orchestra (dedicated to and commissioned by the Norwegian virtuoso Ole Edvard Antonsen), a double concerto for two clarinets and string orchestra (dedicated to Walter and Anne Boeykens), a concerto for clarinet and symphony orchestra (commissioned by and dedicated to Eddy Vanoosthuyse), Images for alto saxophone and chamber orchestra, a lieder cycle for baritone and chamber orchestra, works for strings and chamber orchestra, chamber music, numerous brass band and concert band compositions (including Sinfonia Hungarica, a three-movement symphony for large concert band and Sinfonietta), choral music and instrumental solos. Many of these compositions have been broadcast on radio and TV in many countries and most of them have been recorded on CD by renowned performers. Jan Van der Roost exclusively composes commissioned works, with commissions coming from Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, the USA, Japan, Spain, France, Singapore, Austria, Canada, Norway, Germany, Brazil, Finland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Colombia, Croatia and England.