Composer Paulus Folkertsma plays an important role in the musical history of Fryslan. He was born on January 15, 1901 in Wommels. Five years later,...

Composer Paulus Folkertsma plays an important role in the musical history of Fryslan. He was born on January 15, 1901 in Wommels. Five years later, the family moved to Berlikum, where young Paulus got his first violin lessons from master Groenewold, the local teacher. When at age 14, Paulus went to the Maastricht College of Education for teachers, music became ever more important to him. This is where Folkertsma wrote his first compositions. After temporary appointments in Leeuwarden and Sondel, he became a school teacher at the public primary school in Aldeboarn, where he worked for over 40 years. In 1956 he married Viennese Helga Khek - they had four children. Paulus passed away in 1972 in Aldeboarn.