Johan van den Boogert
Johan van den Boogert was a Dutch pianist and conservatory director. He was born in Zaandam on 23 November 1913, the son of Euphemia Tambach and civil servant Johan van den Boogert, and died in Amsterdam on 9 May 1988, aged 74.
He received his first music lessons from his father at the age of seven. After studying piano with Cor Kee for three years and spending an intervening year at a music school, he entered the Amsterdam Conservatory, where he studied with Willem Andriessen and, in 1931, Ulfert Schults among others. That year he auditioned in The Hague for a scholarship.
While still a student, van den Boogert was already appearing in concert. In 1933 he performed a piano concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with the Zaandam Orchestral Association. He earned his soloist diploma in 1936 before a jury that included Emile Bosquet, Johan Wagenaar and Sem Dresden, and in the same year received an honorary prize at a piano competition in Vienna.
After several years of performing, he became a teacher of piano and methodology at the Amsterdam Conservatory in 1943, following an earlier period at its associated music school. He was appointed senior piano teacher in 1947, continued to perform, and served on examination committees. In April 1957 he became deputy director of the Amsterdam Conservatory.
In December 1957 it was announced that he would succeed Kees van Baaren as director of the Utrecht Conservatory, an appointment that received national attention. He continued to give concerts during the early years of his directorship. He also recognized the promise of pianist Rian de Waal, admitted him to the Utrecht Conservatory, and arranged for him to study with Edith Lateiner.
Van den Boogert served for a time as chairman of the Gaudeamus Foundation. His other positions included membership of the Council for the Arts, chairmanship of the Royal Dutch Society of Musicians, and chairmanship of the music subcommittee of the Belgian-Dutch Cultural Treaty. He was also organist for the Dutch Protestant Association in Hilversum, succeeding Anthon van der Horst in that role. He was an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau and an honorary member of the European Association of Conservatories.