Wim Mertens

About Wim Mertens

Wim Mertens is an international recording and performing artist who has given countless concerts as a soloist and with his ensemble. He is also the author of American Minimal Music. His early landmark albums included Vergessen and Struggle for Pleasure. Since then, he has composed pieces in different formats, from short, accessible songs or Lieder to magnanimous and complex three- and four-part cycles, and for different settings: from solo piano to chamber music ensembles and symphony orchestra. Since his recording, For Amusement Only, an electronic composition for pinball machines, Wim Mertens has released more some 70 albums. The 1984 album Maximizing the Audience, saw the introduction of vocals in Mertens' music. His releases have included the ambitious 37-CD cycle Qua started in 1991. Other special releases included 1997's guitar album Sin embargo. Mertens has been called on to create music for numerous occasions. These include A Starry Wisdom for the Festival van Vlaanderen in Belgium, live recordings with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, a live composition for the city of Guimarães, and Voice of the Living commissioned by the FPS Chancellery of the Belgian Primer Minister to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War. To celebrate his 40th artistic anniversary, the composer released Inescapable, a 4-CD limited edition box set. It was followed by the double album Heroides and most recently the album Ranges of Robustness..