Diederik van der Laag (1991) is a composer of vocal music, as well as a singer and guitarist. Born and raised in Utrecht (NL), he grew up surrounded by his father’s records of Madonna and Paul Young, alongside his mother’s unwavering love for early Baroque.

Diederik has a long history of playing all kinds of instruments in bands — from extreme metal through bossa nova, jazz, and drum-and-bass, before classical music resurfaced later in life. A half-year stay at the French monastery of Taizé brought the power of the human voice to the forefront. Singing four-part harmonies with hundreds of people, three times a day, ignited a deep fascination with the magic of vocal music.

After studying Social and Humanistics (theology without the theo), Diederik went on to study music composition with Tom Dicke, himself a student of Henk Alkema. Alkema is often quoted as saying: “Regardless of the kind of music you write, only three things truly matter: when you repeat, when you vary, and when you stop.”

Since the premiere of his first choral work in 2015, Miks Ma Ei Tapa Ennast, Diederik has established himself as a vocal composer with a mission: to innovate tonal choral music. In his search for music that touches both the mind and the heart, composing and improvising are equally relevant and effective for him:

“For me, music is at its most beautiful
when it leaves space—when it doesn’t
just showcase itself but also makes room
for what wants to emerge in the moment.
I am convinced this is possible with both
written and improvised music.
Nonetheless, exploring new forms that
combine these qualities is particularly
rewarding, especially in contemporary choral music.”

Celebrating 10 years as a composer, Diederik still has the voice and ensemble-singing centered in his practice. By 2025 his music has been heard in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, England, Switzerland, Poland, Austria — and beyond, in Indonesia and the American states of Arizona, California and Ohio. Soon it will come to Ireland, Latvia, and the Philippines.