Wouter Vercruysse (°1981 Courtray, Belgium) holds a Master of Music degree with highest distinction for cello at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, where he was under the tutelage of Judith Ermert. Prior to his studies in Ghent, he had the privilege of studying with Jan Van Kelst at the Conservatory of Courtray. Armand Coeck has been Vercruysse’s personal mentor, under whose tutelage he has been able to expand his skills as a guitarist, improviser, composer, and chamber musician. Just as well, he has taken masterclasses in cello from Yo-Yo Ma, Alain Meunier, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Alexander Rudin and had chamber music coaching from Pavel Fischer (Skampa Quartet), Ursula Smith (Zehetmair String Quintet), Guy Danel (Danel Quartet), Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) and Claus-Christian Schuster (Altenberg Trio of Vienna). To his credit, he has won first prizes in the Belfius Classics and Rotary competitions. In 2016 he became laureate of Supernova with the St. George Quintet and in 2017 he obtained a second prize in the international competition Leopold Bellan in Paris with Edenwood Duo.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Wouter Vercruysse has performed concerts in the world’s most prestigious halls: Carnegie Hall of New York, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam, and the BOZAR Center for Fine Arts in Brussels. He is currently artist in residence in Beeldenstorm, Centrum van Verbeelding, Anderlecht, Brussels, Belgium.
He collaborated in numerous recording projects released by auurk records, A Croch’Note Production, Pavane Records, SGQ Records, Et’Cetera Records, Warner and EMI.
Wouter Vercruysse plays on a cello made in 2011 by Noémie Viaud in Aarhus, Denmark, a late 19th Century French cello by Paul Mangenot and an original 18th Century violoncello piccolo.
