Raf Vandermeulen received first prizes at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven for solfège, harmony, counterpoint, and fugue, and earned diplomas in music pedagogy and organ.

Later, he taught organ, harmony, counterpoint, and practical harmony at the same institute.

In 1986, he became a laureate of the Omer Van Puyvelde organ competition. He obtained his higher diploma in organ in 1990 and his master’s degree in composition in 1998.

Raf performs as an organist and works as an accompanist for various choirs and ensembles. As a composer, he has written works for solo instruments in addition to several works for concert band and chamber music. In 2022, his opera Tropenliefde was created.

From 1991 to the present, he has worked as director of the Academy for Music, Word, and Dance in Hamme.

Since 2017, he has been working as artistic director of the “Cantoribus project,” which is responsible for the annual performance of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion on Palm Sunday in Hamme. During the 2017 performance he acted as guest conductor of the Ghent Oratorio Society and in 2021 he conducted their livestream concert.