Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra
The Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) was created in 2002 by Antonio Vilardi (Artistic Director of the Théâtre Saint-Michel), Clare Roberts and Roger Bausier (permanent director and Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels).
The orchestra has a multinational character, the musicians come from 23 different countries and 4 continents.
Repertoire
The orchestra aims to give young musicians from academies the opportunity to play regularly as part of a large ensemble, to help them fine tune their skills and prepare them for their professional life. The orchestra also often invites young or established soloists as well as guest conductors. The BPO organises 3 concerts per season which are now held at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels after 10 years at the Théâtre Saint-Michel in Etterbeek. They play regularly in venues in Brussels including the Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Flagey and Wolubilis, as well as in towns like Beringen, Bruges, Courtrai, Coxijde, Hasselt, Namur, Ostende, Tournai, or abroad (Lille, Paris). Concert programmes mainly comprise classical music, but are varied, covering anything from romantic to contemporary as well as global compositions. Frequently, Belgian composers are featured. Since it was created, the BPO interprets major works of the international classical and modern musical repertoire.
Many of these include pieces written by Belgians: Dirk Brossé, François Glorieux, Jacques Leduc, Frédéric van Rossum, Didier Van Damme, Jan Van der Roost, Frédéric Devreese, Robert Janssens, Max Vandermaesbrugge, August De Boeck and Marcel Poot.
Musicians
There are around 120 musicians in the orchestra, with 70 or 80 participating in concerts depending on programmes; 24 nationalities are represented. They work together in weekly rehearsals from September to April.