Jan Van der Roost was born in Duffel, Belgium, in 1956. He studied at the Lemmensinstituut and at the Royal Conservatories of Ghent and Antwerp, where he qualified as a conductor and a composer. Besides being a prolific composer, he also is very much in demand as an adjudicator, lecturer, clinician and guest conductor: his musical activities took him to over fifty countries while his compositions have been performed/recorded around the world. 

His list of works covers a wide variety of genres and styles, including two oratorios, a children’s opera, a cantata, a symphony, and some smaller works for symphony orchestra, a guitar concerto, clarinet concerto, trumpet concerto, cello concerto, clarinet concerto, a solo piece for saxophone and chamber orchestra, a double concerto for two clarinets and strings, a concerto for three trombones and orchestra, works for string orchestra, choral music, chamber music, and numerous works for wind orchestra, brass band and more. 

Many of these compositions have been broadcast on radio and television, and have been recorded on CD. To the many prestigious performers, having played, sung, or recorded his music belong: St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Polish Radio Choir, Slovakian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Tokyo Philharmonic, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, The King’s Singers, Janacek Philharmonic, Sofia Soloists, Salzburger Solisten, Philharmonic Choir Kosovo, Lviv Philharmonic, Milano Classico Chamber Orchestra, and many more. 

He exclusively composes commissioned works with commissions coming from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Austria, Canada, Norway, Japan, the United States, Singapore, Canada, Sweden, Kosovo, Spain, Taiwan, Colombia, Finland, Croatia, Switzerland, Hungary and the United Kingdom.