Born in Ixelles (Brussels, Belgium) on 5th December 1939, Frederik Van Rossum did his complete music studies at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
In 1965 he won the first Grand Prix de Rome.
He has persued a successful career as pedagogue and composer.
He was on the staff of the Royal Conservatories of Brussels and Liège where he taught piano, musical analysis and counterpoint. He was also director of the Music Academy Watermael-Boitsfort. Since several years he is a free-lance composer.
He is one of the leading composers in Europe and proves to be both
prolific and inspired. This is demonstrated by the numerous awards he has obtained for many of his works, including the Koopal Prize in 1972, the Fuerison Prize in 1977 and the Grand Prix Musical Paul Gilson in Quebec (Canada) in 1973.
His Violin Concerto was the compulsory work of the International Music Competition Queen Elisabeth of Belgium 1980.
His works are widely distributed and internationally performed. His style is fundamentally traditional but he makes good use of some expressionistic elements which characterise the avant-garde movement.