Willem Frederik Bon (15/06/1940 - 14/04/1983), a Dutch composer. He was born in Amersfoort. He died in Nijeholtpade.
He studied clarinet with Bram de Wilde in Amsterdam, composition at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague with Kees van Baaren and conducting with Louis Stotijn and Willem van Otterloo.
He taught composition at the Conservatory of Music in Groningen. In 1972 he became conductor of the chamber orchestra The Amsterdam Sinfonietta, and between 1973 and 1975 he was assistant conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Since that time, he was a guest conductor with most of the Dutch symphony orchestras, as well as two Norwegian orchestras.
Bon wrote two symphonies: the Usher Symphony (1968/1970) and Les Prédictions (1970). Between 1976 and 1979 he wrote Les Quatre Saisons de Verlaine, a large-scale composition for soprano, mezzo-soprano, bariton, tenor and orchestra. A regularly performed work is Eriks wonderbaarlijke reis (Erik's miraculous journey, 1979), an instrumental opera after Godfried Bomans' novel Erik of het klein insectenboek, specifically written for youth-oriented concerts.
In 1967 he was awarded the Visser Neerlandia Prize for Wind quintet No. 1 (1963 66).