Edward Ferdinand (1969) is a dutch composer, pianist and lyric and musical book writer. He has studied Recording Technique and Classical Piano at the conservatories of The Hague and Utrecht (The Netherlands). He attended screenwriting workshops at the Flanders Script Academy (Bruxelles, Belgium). Since he graduated he has been engaged in a wide range of musical and theatrical activities.

Composition

As a composer he has written and performed music for the musical theater, for dance performances and for piano solo. In 2006, with his own production company  ‘MusicalWorks’, he directed a performance of his musical theater piece Poets (a dramatization of the lives of two fourteenth century french poets). He also produced one of his own full scale musicals, The Snow Queen, for which he wrote the lyrics and the book as well. It was well received by the press. He has composed and performed/staged music and smaller musical theatre pieces for performances at several educational institutions in the Netherlands.

Pianist/accompanist

Edward has extensive experience in accompanying ballet and singers. His employers have included the Nederlands Dans Theater (The Hague, The Netherlands), Scapino Ballet (Rotterdam, The Netherlands). the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (The Hague, The Netherlands) and Opera Spanga (Spanga).

Edward has worked with a lot of vocalists, both professional and amateur, in a variety of musical styles, both classical and contemporary.

Lyrics/ book

In the music theater field Edward has written pieces of different sizes, from mini musicals for educational purposes, to full scale musicals. For many of these pieces he wrote the music, book and lyrics.

Teacher

As a piano teacher Edward has worked at Roots Music School in Pijnacker. Since 2022 he has been employed at RGO College in Middelharnis as a secondary school music teacher and musical director of the school musical.

Prizes

Composition 

2016: Third Prize at the Alpenchorfestival Composition Competition (Brig, Switzerland), for Drei Lieder auf Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke

2011: First prize in the Otto-Ditscher Art Prize (Ludwigshafen, Germany) for  ‘Colors’, a work for woodwind quintet, brass quintet and large concert band.

Lyrics and composition

2012: Nomination for the Willem Wilmink Prize (Enschede, The Netherlands), a prize for the best dutch children’s song.

Classical Piano 

2000: First accessit at the Concours Musical de France (Paris, France) for classical piano. Works by Mozart, de Falla, Berio, Scarlatti, Liszt and Debussy.

Edward Ferdinand lives in Achthuizen (The Netherlands) with his wife Johanna, who is a soprano. In the musical field they work together a lot. They have a daughter (2007) and a son (2011).