Pieter Schuermans (Belgium, 1970) studied composition with Luc Van Hove at the Lemmensinstitute in Leuven where he became Master in Composition. During a summer stage of Creative Dance Artist Trust in the U.K. he worked with 8 international choreographers and had masterclasses with Kevin Volans and Jonathan Burrows for composition and choreography respectively.
As part of a post graduate at the Orpheus Institute in Ghent he created the interactive performance “Looking Through Eardrums” with music, dance and juggling. Over one hundred performances had critical acclaims in Belgium, Paris, Vienna, Brescia, Leipzig, Stockholm and more.
Although he continues working on interactive possibilities, he still is a strong believer in the presentation of pure musical material on stage too. 
He wrote for all kinds of formations and his work was honored with prices more than once (Tech-Art Price 2000, 
Price of the Province of Vlaams-Brabant). His music is being increasingly appreciated 
on the international scene of contemporary music.
Pieter Schuermans is also active as a performer. He studied flute and double bass (both Masters). He founded the ensemble EaRis company (www.earis.be), an ensemble that is based on a concept of interactive performances, featuring himself on double bass. Pieter Schuermans is a teacher of music theory at the Lemmensinstitute and flute, double bass and chamber music in local music schools in Belgium.
Because of his personal interest as a composer in the power of complex multiple rhythmical layering he was recently involved in a research project on tempo, meter and rhythm of the K.U. Leuven and the IvOK (Institute for Practice based Research in the Arts).
Pieter Schuermans is currently working on a Ph.D.
On the Multilevel Organizing Principles of Duration and Time in the Perception of Music.
As a composer, my research focuses on the organizational mechanisms that affect the experience of duration and rhythm. More specifically, I examine whether large-scale beat patterns as well as beat patterns of slightly varying durations are musically comprehensive. Will such an organization at the super-ordinate level transform the experience of subordinate rhythmic elements? Can this principle act as a catalyst for the perception of more complex rhythmical textures and multi-layering? 
Relevant examples from twentieth century composers, traditional Indian and African music as well as my own work will be analyzed. 
The ubiquitous interaction between research and composition in this doctorate will accumulate in the creation of three new works.
Web: http://www.pieterschuermans.be/Pieter_Schuermans/biography.html (2011)