Jan Depreter started taking daily music lessons at the age of 5 and received his first guitar when he was 8. He graduated three times for guitar with highest distinction, at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven (Concert Diploma 1995), at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (Masters Degree, 1998) and at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (Superior Masters Degree 2003).

As a guitarist he actively participated in masterclasses with famous artists such as Pavel Steidl, Narcisso Yepes, Odair Assad, Oscar Ghiglia, Costas Cotsiolis, David Russell and Manuel Barrueco.

Jan has toured extensively and succesfully around Europe, Asia and Latin-America. He has appeared in concert halls in Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the U.S.A., Mexico, Egypt, China, Ukraine and Japan. He has been featured in music festivals in Kami (Japan), Hirano (Japan), Osaka (Japan), Tokyo (Japan), the Annual Matsuri Ceremonial of Matsuyama, Kagoshima (Japan); the International Film Festival Berlin (Germany), International Film Festival Ghent (Belgium), the Festival van Vlaanderen (Belgium), the Festival de la Guitare d’Acoz (Belgium), the Grachtenfestival of Amsterdam (Holland), the “Greatest Virtuosos of the Planet” Vladimir Horowitz Foundation of Kiev (Ukraine), the Rencontres Internationales d’Antony (France); the Rencontres de la Guitare d’Aix-en-Provence (France); the Beijing International Guitar Festival (China); Shanghai Artspace (China); the Night of the Proms; the Miami Sun Waves Fest (USA); the VII Encuentros Internacionales de la guitarra CENART (Mexico); the XIX Festival Internacional de Musica de Morelia (Mexico).

Jan Depreter has appeared and recorded for numerous television and radio programs around Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Jan has most major guitar concertos in his repertoire, playing regularly on radio and television, solo or alongside the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders, La Chapelle de Lorraine, the Royal Chambre Orchestra of Wallonia, the Orchesta del Ciutat de Torrent, the Municipal Ochestra of Benicasim, the Flanders Radio or most recently at the Kiev Opera with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine.

Prizes

Depreter has been a prize winner in an incredible number of international competitions. These include first prizes in the International Guitar Competition Alhambra in Holland; the International Guitar Competition of Zwolle, Holland; the International Guitar Competition of Mottola, Italy; the International Guitar Competition of Paris, Antony, France; the International Guitar Competition Printemps de la Guitare, Charleroi, Belgium (1st Prize and Gold Medal of H.R.H. Queen Fabiola of Belgium). Other top prizes include the International Guitar Competition of Tokyo, Japan; the International Guitar Competition of Stafford, U.K.; the International Guitar Competition of Vienna, Austria; the International Guitar Competition of Michele Pittaluga, Alessandria, Italy; the International Francisco Tárrega Guitar Competition in Benicasim, Spain; and the International Andres Segovia Guitar Competition in Granada, Spain.

Although he studied the basics of composition at the Lemmensinstitute (Leuven) and the Royal Conservatory (Antwerp), as a composer, Jan Depreter is largely self-taught. After public acclaim of some of his early works and arrangements for guitar on Iternational Music Festivals, Jan was encouraged to compose more by his audience. Antwerp-based international music publisher Metropolis Music Publishers immediately signed Jan on for his own collection.