Prof. Robert Vliegen

Belgian musicologist, born 1928 in Rekem. Robert Vliegen studies musicology, philosophy and theology. In 1953 he moved to Japan to teach the Dutch polyphony in Hiroshima. Since 1964, Vliegen teaches and conducts at the state university of Osaka. There he founded the Palestrina Institute in 1966, the first Japanese centre dedicated to the study of classical choir music. In 1975 he founded the Pro Musica Institute with the aim to study the Western musical culture in Japan. He published a series of musicological studies in Japanese.