Overview

Raymond Micha (1910–2006) was a significant figure in Belgium’s musical life. Born to a family of musicians, he received musical training from his father Octave Micha and uncle Eugène Micha, who were both composers. Raymond played piano accompaniments for silent films during the 1920s, when he was a teenager. This developed his talent for improvisation as well as composition. At age 19, he briefly conducted two musical societies in his town of Stavelot, “Les Artisans Réunis” and “L’Émulation.” The 1930s saw Micha teaching music at a public school and organizing various musical events, including the first “François Prume” contest in 1939. After the liberation of Belgium in 1944, Raymond Micha played a major role in reviving musical societies that had been shuttered by the Second World War. He also taught music until his retirement in 1970. His students remember him as a remarkably charismatic and motivational teacher. The Stavelot Music Festival, founded by Raymond Micha and others in 1958, continues to thrive. Its rural setting and welcoming atmosphere make it a particularly attractive venue for artists. As a composer, Raymond Micha distinguished himself in various musical genres including instrumental music, sacred music, choral music, and folk music. Although he began composing in the 1920s, most of his compositions date from after 1970, the year marking the end of his teaching duties. Raymond Micha’s eldest great-grandson, Julien Delhez, has spent more than two years gathering primary documents including personal letters, notebooks, memories, recorded speeches, and interviews. Julien himself interviewed many people who knew Raymond Micha, including family members, students, friends, children of friends, and musicians who interacted with him. The results are this first biography of Raymond Micha.

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9781680533668

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Julien Delhez (b. 1991) studied classical philology at the University of Liège and ancient oriental languages with a focus on Egyptology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. From 2015 to 2024, he lived in Göttingen, Germany, where he completed a Ph.D. in Coptology, a branch of Egyptology, and was subsequently a postdoctoral researcher at the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Lower Saxony. His first book, Shenoute of Atripe and the Rise of Monastic Education in Egypt, was published by Academica Press in 2023. In January 2025, Delhez returned to Belgium to work for the European Research Council-funded “BICROSS” project at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), which is dedicated to bilingual manuscripts of the New Testament. His interests beyond Coptology include classical music (he has been a member of the Stavelot Music Festival since 2012), human evolution, genetics, intelligence, learning languages, traveling in Central and Eastern Europe, and hiking. He is a two-time 50/12 Megamarsch finisher.

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