Timothée Urbain

Born in Ypres in 1983, Alexander Besant began his musical education at the academies of Ypres and Courtrai. He completed his studies in 2008 at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles in the classes of Dominique Cornil and Sergei Leschenko. At the same conservatoire, he also studied the pianoforte with Claire Chevallier for two years.

At the same time, he furthered his training with Johan Schmidt and obtained a master’s degree in accompaniment at the Conservatoire Royal de Mons, in the class of Catherine Van Loo.

A laureate of the Kiwanis competitions of Torhout, Cantabile of Anvers and Axion Classics Dexia of Bruxelles, and a finalist of the André Modeste Grétry Competition of Liège and The Belgian Foundation of Young Soloists of Bruxelles, he also received the Ward van der Weyden Prize and the Jan Decadt Prize.

Alexander has taken part in numerous concerts as a soloist and with orchestra, notably in the Salle Bleue du Singel in Anvers, at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Bruxelles and at the Handelsbeurs in Gand. He premiered Piano Sonata No. 7 by the German composer Heinz Chur, Sailogotro for piano, cello and piano by the Flemish composer Robrecht Kessels, and took part in the Belgian premiere of the Sonata for cello and piano by the American composer Marc Gresham.

A piano professor at the Académie de Jeunes Solistes in Mézin, France, he has had the pleasure of collaborating with major artists such as Christophe Boulier, Piet Swerts and Serge Hurel, taking part in numerous concerts and several recordings released on CD.

An accompanist for many masterclasses as well as for the Vlamo competition, he is also choir conductor of the Hopchora choir in Poperinghe. A teacher and accompanist at the academies of Ypres and Poperinghe since 2008, he has been teaching at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles since 2017 as an assistant in the piano class.