The Belgian musician Roel Dieltiens, born in 1957, plays both Baroque and modern cello. As the son of a teacher of music theory and harmony, he was more or less obliged to learn the piano initially. At the age of fifteen, encouraged by his elder brother who played the flute in René Jacobs's Concerto Vocale ensemble, he tried the cello just as he was on the point of giving up music. He immediately fell in love with the instrument. Having obtained his First Prize at the Antwerp Royal Conservatory three ye ars later, he then became a pupil at the Chapelle musicale Reine Élisabet h in Brussels. He went on to further study with André Navarra in Detmold (Germany) and Pierre Fournier in Geneva. He was awarded the diploma of the Akademie für Solisten, Wolfenbütte l and the Diploma d'Onore of the celebrated Accademia Chigiana of Siena.
By that time Roel Dieltiens had already begun working with the violinist André Gertler, the clarinettist Walter Boeykens and the countertenor and conductor René Jacobs. He became the latter's regular continuo cellist whilst also holding the post of first cello of the Orchestra of the 18th Century under Frans Brüggen. Several contemporary composers, amongst them Luc Van Hove and William Bolcom, have asked him to give first performances of their works.
Since 1995 Roel Dieltiens, who is also a notable interpreter of chamber music, has appeared with such partners as Frank Braley (piano), Christine Busch, Margarete Adorf (violin) and Richard Wolfe and Frans Vos (viola) "for the pleasure of playing together ":thus the Ensemble Explorations was born. Along with the choreographer Alain Platel and Les Ballets C. de la B. he created lets op Bach, which won the "Time Out Live Award"in London in 1998 and the "Masque d'Or"in Montreal in 1999. In Alain Platel's new and more intimate production entitled Rien de Rien, Roel Dieltiens appears onstage playing repertoire by Gubaidulina, Ligeti, Van Hove, Moser, Crumb and Kodály. This production toured France and Germany early in 2002.