Luc Brewaeys (1959) studied composition with André Laporte and conducting with Ronald Zollman at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels from 1979–84. He also studied composition with Franco Donatoni at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena in 1981–82 and attended Darmstadt in 1982, where he encountered Brian Ferneyhough. He had private studies with Iannis Xenakis in Paris from 1980–84.

Among his many honors are Third Prize in the European competition for young composers in Amsterdam (1985, for Symphony No. 1, '...e poi c'era...'), the selected work in the Under-30 category at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (1986, for Symphony No. 1, '...e poi c'era...'), the Prix de la Musique Contemporaine du Québec (1988, for his œuvre), and First Prize in the Concours pour Compositeurs Européens des Rencontres Internationales de Musique Contemporaine de Metz (1988, for Symphony No. 2, 'Komm! Hebe dich...'). He has also earned the Prijs voor Muziek van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap (1989), the SABAM-Prijs (1990), the Premio Musicale Città di Trieste (1991, for Symphony No. 3, 'Hommage'), two prizes from the Belgische Muziekpers (1996, for recordings of his orchestral music), and the Blanlin-Evrart Cultuurprijs from the Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven (1999, for his œuvre). His music has been featured at the Week voor Hedendaagse Muziek in Ghent (1989), the Dicht bij huis festival in Tilburg (2001), the Ars Musica festival in Brussels (2004), and the November Music festival (2007).