Patrick Deurzen studied guitar with Dick Hoogeveen and Music Theory with Peter-Jan Wagemans and Jan Kleinbussink at the Rotterdam Conservatory. As a composer he is self-taught but attended classes of instrumentation Klaas de Vries with whom he has had regular work meetings. He also received some composition lessons from Wagemans. He worked as a guitarist, conductor, singer and wrote several articles on 20th-century music. He also worked on several documentaries for the NPS, which include Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron and Alban Berg s violin concerto. Currently[when?] he is active as a composer and teaches at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and Codarts Rotterdam.
The idea that Pavlovian association is a feature that makes man unique is the starting point of Van Deurzens composing. Deurzen also often adds text that the musicians should recite to add a different level of meaning to the composition, as in his quintet Choral, Prelude & Fugue (2005) where each part contains texts of Don Quixote. In 2002 he won the Second international composition competition for choral music in Hasselt (Belgium), Deux poèmes the Baudelaire for a cappella choir, conducted by the Flemish Radio Choir.
