Johan Theodorus (Theo) Loevendie (17/09/1930), a Dutch composer and clarinet player, born in Amsterdam. Loevendie studied composition and clarinet at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam. Initially he concentrated on jazz music. As off 1968 he also wrote concert music, among which operas, concertos and chamber music. Several of his compositions won prizes. Starting 1970 Loevendie taught composition at several Dutch conservatoires. Among his many students were Svitlana Azarova, Matthias Kadar, Vanessa Lann, Peter van Onna, Robin de Raaff, Victor Varela, Sinta Wullur and Evrim Demirel. As a performer, he participated in the ensembles Consort, Brevisand the Theo Loevendie Quintet. In 2004, he founded a new group: The "Ziggurat Ensemble" - as he puts it himself: his dream-ensemble. It consists of a mix of western and non-western instruments: Er-hu, Viola da Gamba, Qanun, Voice, Duduk, Bass, Pan Pipes and Percussion. Loevendie is writing practically all the music for this young and enthusiastic team and in the relatively short time of its existence has celebrated many successes with it.