Biography

Born on July 18th, 1981 in Arnhem, the Netherlands, Alex Poelman began playing the french horn at the age of eleven in the local Wind Band of Oosterbeek. After six years of high school, Alex moved to Enschede to study computer science at the University of Twente. During his time at university, Alex remained active in the Student Wind Orchestra Twente and the National Youth Wind Orchestra of the Netherlands as a horn player. As principal hornplayer of the Wind Orchestra of Wilhelmina Glanerbrug, one of the best amateur orchestras in the Netherlands, Alex got the oppertunity to play at a high level.

While studying, Alex began composing music for small ensembles and arranging pieces for Wind Band. In 2001, he wrote his first composition for Wind Band, Volcano. Three years later, in 2004, he released his first symphony, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which quickly became a great success, performed all over the world and recorded by the KMKJWF (Military Band of the Netherlands), conducted by Norbert Nozy. The first three parts of the symphony were compulsory pieces at Dutch wind band contests for five years. Alex went on to compose D-Day, Jeanne d’Arc, Pinocchio and Theophoros, among others, which were commissioned by various orchestras and have been performed in Japan, the United States, Brazil, and throughout Europe.

In 2015, Alex premiered his second symphony, The Odyssey, a 45-minute composition for choir and wind band, with the National Opera and Concert Choir of the Netherlands and Wilhelmina Glanerbrug. The performance was successfully recorded on DVD. During the COVID-period Alex decided to fully concentrate on composing instead of playing.

Next to writing for professional bands (Dutch Military Band RFGGJ and the Dutch Royal Marechaussee), Alex started focussing on scoring for film and theater. In 2024, he won the summer edition of the Indie Film Music Contest and became the runner-up in the summer 2025 edition, a competition with participants from all over the world.