Frank van der Poel composer / arranger

Frank was born on the 26th of May 1960 in Ossendrecht, the Netherlands, and raised in a musical family. After secondary education, he studied trumpet at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp Belgium, under the tutelage of Theo Mertens. Frank graduated in 1981 in trumpet and chamber music and was awarded a first prize with honours.

Frank van der Poel has been the solo trumpeter of the Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy since 1980. With this orchestra Frank performed successfully the Trumpet Concertos of Haydn and Hummel, not only in the Netherlands, but also in Norway, Germany and Switzerland.

He has also performed as a solo trumpeter with the “Frysk” orchestra, the orchestra of Zeeland, Brabant orchestra and the BRT Symphony orchestra. Furthermore he was invited for the TV program ‘’Young People on Stage’’ and won numerous awards at international contests.

In June 1986 he graduated with distinction as a performing artist at the Rotterdam Conservatory. That same year his popularity as a solo trumpeter reached new heights with performances of the composition “Opus for Trumpet”, dedicated to Theo Mertens and composed by Charlie Knegtel. One of the performances at the National Annual Show of Military Orchestras in Breda was also televised and recorded for the album “Swinging Marines”.

In 1988 Frank attended the conductor’s course at the Conservatory in Enschede. After four years he graduated with honours for his Masters. From 1985 to 2002 Frank was conductor of the Windband “Kolping’s Zonen” in Bergen op Zoom.

From a very young age Frank played classical music and also performed with Big Bands and Jazz ensembles. After working with the Marine Band for 31 years, Frank van der Poel retired from the band on the 1st of September 2011. Frank continues his musical career as a freelance trumpeter, teacher, conductor, composer and sound director.