Kris Defoort, born on November 30, 1959, in Bruges, Belgium, is a Belgian avant-garde jazz pianist and composer. He studied early music at the Antwerp conservatory from 1978 to 1982, followed by contemporary music and jazz studies at the Liège Conservatory. Defoort's first recording was released in 1986 with his quintet Diva Smiles. In 1987, he moved to New York to study at Long Island University. Upon returning to Belgium in 1991, Defoort founded K.D.'s Basement Party and released his first CD for the De Werf label. Notable works include the opera The Woman Who Walked into Doors, which premiered in November 2001 at deSingel in Ghent, and The House of Sleeping Beauties, which debuted in May 2009 at La Monnaie. He has collaborated with various artists, including Mark Turner and Aka Moon, and taught at the Brussels conservatory.
