Tom Pauwels (°1974) studied classical guitar in Brussels, Köln and Münster. In 1995, during his studies at the Brussels Conservatory, he was involved in the founding of Black Jackets Company, a Brussels collective of composers and performers. Ever since these early experiments he has been active in the field of contemporary music, both on classical and electric guitar.

From 1999 until 2001 he was a regular member of ChampdAction and since 2002 he has worked as a co-artistic leader for the new music ensemble Ictus (Brussels). Project-wise, he performs with the London based Plus-Minus ensemble. He has recorded works by Craenen, Lachenmann, Shlomowitz, Van Eycken, Guiraud, Trapani and for Cyprès (Ictus) works by Oehring, Harada, Romitelli and Aperghis.

After a five year research project on new music for guitar he became a ‘Laureate of the Orpheus Institute’ with the thesis ‘De Echo van ‘t Saluut’. Between 2002 and 2017 he has been in charge of teaching new music for guitar at the Conservatory of Gent where he has developed an advanced master program with emphasis on contemporary chamber music in collaboration with the Spectra Ensemble and Ictus.