BIOGRAPHY

Often do I think of the words of the poet Robert Frost: ‘Two roads diverged in the woods and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.'

Coming from a Belgian bi-cultural family - French (Walloon)/ Flemish - and being trained as a chemist, at 46, in the middle of a career in international management with a large New York commercial bank (having established residence with my family in Central Africa), and after several years with a petroleum company in Brussels, I arched back to my childhood dreams of pursuing justice through art and music.

I left banking and enrolled in the Western Michigan University Irving S. Gilmore School of Music. My wife helped me to realize that simplicity is a core value. This made me reflect anew on the bike rides of my childhood, meandering from one First World War military cemetery to another - the endless fields of white crosses of Flanders Fields.

The first orchestral composition, “Of Barbed Wire and Red Roses” Op. 1b for large brass ensemble and timpani, was the result of reflections on the destruction caused by the civil wars that I witnessed while traveling a decade for business in Africa. This Suite for brass was recognized with the Irving S. Gilmore Emerging Artist Award. Additional awards from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo Arts Outreach Grant and the Pharmacia and Upjohn Foundation Grant, gave me the additional boosts of self-confidence to pursue music composition, to follow the road less traveled.

The pianist Maurizio Pollini once said that “art is a little like the dreams of a society. They seem to contribute little, but sleeping and dreaming are vitally important in that a human couldn’t live without them, in the same way a society cannot live without art.” . *** The oratorio “Requiem for the Fallen” Op. 50 for soprano, choir, timpani and orchestra, invites reflection on all losses and the Cantata “Prayers According to my Heart” Op. 63 offer reflections on mutual respect and on our common humanity.

In the same positive spirit, I composed the piano concerto “Imagine New York” Op. 39, based on the Fantaisie for piano and band Op. 52; the concerto for alto saxophone and strings “Springtime in Chicago” Op. 61; and the piano toccata “With Coffee and Beer” Op. 62.

The complete list of compositions is posted in the ‘Works’ section. . ***

As a child, I was not allowed to do music because of the threatening Cold War context and because our parents were still haunted by the memory of WWII. Instead, I was enticed to study mathematics and physics. I obtained a degree in Chemistry from the University of Brussels and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After Belgian military service, I worked for a European oil company and then for a decade in the Middle East/ Africa Division of a New York City commercial bank.

Subsequently, I taught international business, economics and finance in Michigan. In the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, I joined the US Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C. and was assigned to the oversight of USAID programs in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and Yugoslavia.

This exposure to regions shaken by strife and warfare, led to reflection on the humanity that binds us regardless of background, status or ideology. I concluded that I needed to ‘start over’ and enrolled in the Western Michigan University School of Music. Over time I composed works about empathy — the Oratorio ‘Requiem for the Fallen’, the ‘Organ Sonata’, the Piano Concerto ‘Imagine New York’ the short Cantata ‘Tears of the Earth’ Op. 57 on American Indian poetry about respect, and the expanded Cantata ‘Prayers According to My Heart’ Op. 63. . *** The oratorio ‘Requiem for the Fallen’ was performed in Moscow in 2020 and 2021 at concerts for peace. In 2021, ‘Ave Maria’ Op. 29 was performed at Saint Bechara Church in Jubail, Lebanon. In 2022, the Ave and the ‘Organ Sonata’ Op. 16 were played in Graz, Austria, during a concert for peace supported by the American Embassy in Vienna. In 2023, the American Embassy in Moscow cosponsored a concert for peace at the Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the Ave Maria and the Organ Sonata opened the event. Two decades earlier, in 2002, the Organ Sonata had premiered at the First United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in memory of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia. The Organ Sonata was replayed in 2004 at the cathedral of Lectoure, France, in remembrance of 9-11. .  *** Other vocal works have been performed in concert, including the song cycle ‘Detours of Love’ Op. 21 for soprano and piano, the duets ‘Happiness’ Op. 30 for soprano, mezzo soprano and piano, ‘Yulia’ Op. 45 for soprano and string quartet and ‘Come Ye Who Love’ Op. 43a for soprano, horn and piano, commissioned by Michigan State University. The review in the “Horn Call’ of the Op. 43 reads: Emmanuel Dubois’ contribution is a hauntingly beautiful work with surprises. The moody opening solo is an extended cantabile, which is then joined by the voice in an interweaving tapestry […].

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Dubois’ music has been played at numerous events and festivals in America and in Europe, including the Nuits Musicales en Armagnac Summer Festival; the Jeunes Talents Concert Series (Auditorium Colbert, Paris) under the auspices of the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art; the Kauffman Center (Merkin Hall), New York; Carnegie Hall (Weil Hall, Zankel Hall), New York; the Université de Liège, Belgium; Melbourne, Florida; the Stephaniensaal in Graz, Austria; in Fleurance, France; and, at Mosfilm Studios, the Tsereteli Art Gallery, the Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, all four in Moscow.