From an early age, Raf was drawn to music. His father was a passionate musician who played in no fewer than seven wind orchestras. Music was central to his life, and he passed that love on to his son.
Raf began studying music theory at the age of six. At seven, he started playing the clarinet in the class of Ivo Lybeert, and only a few years later he was already performing with the wind band in his hometown. At fifteen, he took his first steps as a conductor — a passion that soon led him to lead several ensembles. In the years that followed, he worked with orchestras of various levels and formations, ranging from youth bands to adult wind bands, harmony orchestras and fanfare orchestras.
At the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, Raf studied clarinet, bass clarinet, church organ and music analysis, as well as wind band conducting, with a focus on symphonic wind band and fanfare. As one of the first students of Dirk De Caluwé, he contributed to the foundations of what would become a rich tradition of wind music at the Antwerp Conservatoire. During his studies, he also served for several years as assistant conductor of the conservatoire’s symphonic wind orchestra. After graduating, he continued to lead various projects at the institution.
During his final year of study, Raf became chief conductor of the wind orchestra Met Moed Vooruit in Opdorp, Belgium. With this ensemble, he achieved several successful competition results, including promotion to the superior division with an impressive score of 96%.
Since 1997, Raf has also been active as a conductor in the Netherlands. In addition to working with several orchestras in North Brabant, he served for more than six years as conductor of Harmonie KNS Woudrichem, a first-division ensemble. He was also chief conductor of Harmonie L’Union Fraternelle in Zeelst, the Netherlands, for more than thirteen years, leading the ensemble to multiple first prizes and distinctions.
After thirteen years of conducting in Zeelst, Raf decided to focus primarily on his work as Director of the Tilburg Conservatoire. At the same time, he continued to be invited as a guest conductor with orchestras in China, Japan, France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Over the years, he has also conducted numerous play-ins and project orchestras in both Belgium and the Netherlands.
Since 2019, Raf has served as principal conductor of Harmonie Sint-Cecilia Blerick, a first-division wind band in the Netherlands.
Raf is a member of the jury panels of both the Dutch KNMO and the Flemish VLAMO. In this role, he regularly appears at regional and national championships.
