Patrick Peire

Patrick Peire (Bruges, 6 August 1946 – Jabbeke, 22 November 2023) was a Belgian recorder player, conductor, choirmaster, and music educator.

Peire completed his secondary education in Latin and mathematics at Sint-Lodewijkscollege in Bruges. He subsequently obtained his master's degree in psychology (specializing in music psychology) in 1968 (final thesis: 'De invloed van muziek op de arbeidende mens' = The influence of music on working people) and his master's degree in art history and archaeology (specializing in musicology) in 1970 (final thesis: 'Vergelijkende studie van de seccorecieten in de kerkcantates van J.S. Bach en G.Ph. Telemann' = Comparative study of secco-recitations in the church cantatas of J.S. Bach and G.Ph. Telemann), both at Ghent University. In 1974-75, he studied for five semesters at Albert Magnus University of Cologne.

His musical career began early. At the age of twelve, he and some friends formed his first music group. At Sint-Lodewijkscollege, he played the recorder in the ensemble Ons Dorado. During a concert tour with that group, he met Carl Orff. He studied at the Bruges Conservatory of Music. In his penultimate year of high school, he founded the baroque ensemble Ter Duinen (1963). In Ghent, he continued his studies at the Koninklijk Muziekconservatorium Gent, where he earned first prizes in music theory (1966), harmony (1970), flute (1970), chamber music (1971), and music history (1971). During his studies, he taught at the Bruges Municipal Music School (from 1970 onward). In 1971, he and some friends founded the Telemann Baroque Ensemble. Shortly thereafter, he founded the Collegium Instrumentale Brugense. In 1974, he earned a first prize in recorder from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In Cologne and The Hague, he specialized in early music and historical performance practice. Other awards during those years came at a recorder competition in Bruges (1972) and the Stimulus Prize for Avant-Garde Music in Brussels (1974). From 1972, he taught recorder, ensemble playing, and chamber music at the Lemmensinstituut, Leuven, and from 1981, recorder teacher at the Ghent Conservatory. He also gave lectures on pedagogy.