The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and drama courses, the institution became renowned partly because of the international reputation of its successive directors such as

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univers ...

François-Auguste Gevaert François-Auguste Gevaert (31 July 1828 in Huysse, near Oudenaarde – 24 December 1908 in Brussels) was a Belgian musicologist and composer.N. Slonimsky, Ed., ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th ed., Schirmer Books, NY Li ...

Edgar Tinel Edgar Pierre Joseph Tinel (27 March 185428 October 1912) was a Belgian composer and pianist. He was born in Sinaai, today part of Sint-Niklaas in East Flanders, Belgium, and died in Brussels. After studies at the Brussels Conservatory with Lou ...

Joseph Jongen Joseph Marie Alphonse Nicolas Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator. Biography Jongen was born in Liège, where his parents had moved from Flanders. On the strength of an amazing precocity ...

Marcel Poot Marcel Poot (7 May 1901 in Vilvoorde, Belgium – 12 June 1988 in Brussels) was a Belgian composer, professor, and musician. Personal life His father, Jan Poot, was Director of the (Flemish Theatre) in Brussels. Early life Born to the dire ...

, but more because it has been attended by many of the top musicians, actors and artists in Belgium such as

Arthur Grumiaux Baron Arthur Grumiaux (; 21 March 1921 – 16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist, considered by some to have been "one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century". He has been noted for having a "consistently beautiful t ...

José Van Dam Joseph, Baron Van Damme (born 27 August 1940 in Brussels), known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone. At the age of 17, he entered the Brussels Royal Conservatory and studied with Frederic Anspach. A year later, he graduated with diplo ...

Sigiswald Kuijken Sigiswald Kuijken (; born 16 February 1944) is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on period and original instruments. Biography Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble of ...

Josse De Pauw Josse De Pauw (born 15 March 1952) is a versatile Belgian actor, film director, dramatist, author and columnist. He was married to modern dance performer Fumio Ikeda for over thirty years. Theatre After graduating from the Royal Conservatory i ...

, Luk van Mello and Luk De Konink.

Adolphe Sax Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (; 6 November 1814 – 4 February 1894) was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba. He played the fl ...

, inventor of the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, also studied at the Brussels Conservatory. In 1967, the institution split into two separate entities: the , which teaches in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, and the , which continued teaching in French. While the French-speaking entity remained an independent public institution of higher education (''École supérieure des arts''), the Flemish entity integrated the

Erasmus University College Erasmus University College (EUC) is a public liberal arts college situated in Rotterdam, South Holland. It is the undergraduate honours college of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, offering it's students a BSc degree in Liberal Arts & Sciences. ...

as one of its Schools of Arts.

Building

The current Royal Conservatory building consists of three wings arranged around a courtyard and is the work of architect

Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar (1811–1880) was a Belgian architect. He is the father of the Cluysenaar family. Family He was born in Kampen in the Netherlands as a son of Joannes Kluysenaar and Garidenia Kluysenaar, a Dutch family of archite ...

, built to his designs between 1872 and 1876. The style is

neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

, influenced by the Lescot Wing of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. The decorative program of the facade is very elaborate, with five separate

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

sculptures (''Instrumental Music'' by

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

sculptor Adolphe Fassin, ''Orchestration'' by

Charles van der Stappen Charles van der Stappen (also Karl van der Stappen; 19 September 1843 – 21 October 1910), was a Belgian sculptor, born in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode. Life Educated at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (1859–1868), van der Stappen' ...

, ''Composition'' by

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

sculptor Frans Deckers, ''Performing Arts'' by Antoine-Félix Bouré, and ''Poetry'' by

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

sculptor Barthélemy Frison) and other incidental work including garlands,

caryatid A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...

palm trees Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm ( ...

and musical instruments by sculptors Georges Houtstont, Paul de Vigne, Antoine-Joseph Van Rasbourgh, Auguste Braekevelt, and Égide Mélot.

Auxiliary activities

Concerts

Each year a variety of regular student concerts and performances is organised by the Conservatory, boasting over hundred events and enhanced by two festivals. The right wing of the Conservatory contains a 600 seats ornate concert hall in Napoleon-III style with exceptional acoustic qualities, equipped with a Cavaillé-Coll organ. Wiki - Salle de concert du CRB 1

Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)

Founded in 1877 to provide students with a practical education about ancien instruments, the Conservatory museum, currently referred to as the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) of Brussels displays over 8,000 ancient instruments acquired by the celebrated

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

, rare pieces from the initial collection, from the various funds or from new acquisitions. Since 2000, the museum, one of the most important ones of its kind, is located in the prestigious

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

building conceived in 1899 by the architect Paul Saintenoy for the former Old England

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

Library

Initially created with a pedagogic aim, the Conservatory library hosts about 250,000 references, representing a scientific instrument of international resonance. CRB - Bibliothèque

It primarily consists of works about music (including more than 1200 musical or musicological periodicals), as well as of autograph, printed or digitized (scanned) scores. There is also an important collection of more than 8.000 libretti of Italian, French or German operas from the XVIIe and XVIIIe s., lute and guitar tablatures, several thousands of handwritten letters of musicians, iconographic documents (over 9.000 pieces), concert programmes and various types of recordings (magnetic tapes, video, 78 and 33 rpm vinyl, CD, etc.). Next to the core collections, the library possesses several subcollections of historical importance, together forming an extensive patrimony: * the Johann J.H. Westphal collection bought by Fétis (manuscripts of C.P.E. Bach an
G.P. Telemann
, * the Richard Wagener collection acquired by the librarian Alfred Wotquenne (German music from the XVIIe, XVIIIe and XIXe s. including 40 autograph manuscripts from three sons of J.-S. Bach), * the Jean-Lucien Hollenfeltz collection (documents of Constance Mozart and her youngest son Franz Xaver Amadeus Mozart), * the Maria Malibran collection (documents and objects from the cantatrice and her close family), * the

Edmond Michotte collection The Edmond Michotte collection is a donation to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels phased between 1897 and 1913, by the Belgian homonymous composer and musicographer, of an important part of the private library of Rossini with whom he became frien ...

(pieces from Rossini's private library), * the Józef Wieniawski collection (autograph scores from the pianist), * the Laurent Halleux collection, * the Joseph Jongen collection. The library is open to the general public. In 2015, the library acquired the score collection of CeBeDeM (Belgian Centre for Music Documentation). In doing so it also took over the latter's objectives in promoting Belgian contemporary music worldwide.

Personalities linked to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels

Directors

* 1833–1871:

* 1871–1908:

* 1908–1912:

* 1912–1925: Léon Du Bois * 1925–1939:

* 1939–1949:

Léon Jongen Léon Jongen (2 March 1884 – 18 November 1969) was a Belgian composer and organist. Musical career He was born in Liège, on March 2, 1884. His father Alphonse had an atelier there and worked as a woodcarver. Jongen studied at the Royal Cons ...

* 1949–1966:

Directors of the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles

* 1966–1973: Camille Schmit (in French) * 1974–1987: Éric Feldbusch (in French) * 1987–2002: Jean Baily (in French) * 2003–present: Frédéric de Roos

Directors of the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel

* 1966–1994: Kamiel D'Hooghe (in Dutch) * 1994–2004: Arie Van Lysebeth (in Dutch) * 2004–2008: Rafael D'haene * 2008–2017: Peter Swinnen * 2017–2021: Kathleen Coessens *2021–present: Jan D'haene

Notable faculty

* Charles-Auguste de Bériot, violin * Daniel Blumenthal (piano) *

Lola Bobesco Lola Violeta Ana-Maria Bobesco (9 August 1921– 4 September 2003) was a Belgian violinist of Romanian origin. She was born in Craiova, Romania, and began her career as a child prodigy, giving her first recital there at the age of 6 with her fath ...

(violin) * François Daneels, saxophone *

Luc Devos Luc or LUC may refer to: Places * Luc, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, a commune * Luc, Lozère, France, a commune * Le Luc, France, a commune * Luč, Baranja, Croatia, a settlement People and fictional characters * Luc (given name) * Luc (surn ...

(piano) * Paul Dombrecht (oboe) *

François Fernandez François Fernandez (born 22 February 1960) is a French classical violinist who specializes in historically informed performance. Career Born in Rouen in a family of musicians, Fernandez began learning the classical violin at the age of twelve ...

(baroque) * Bernard Foccroule, organ * Julien Ghyoros, direction * Katarina Glowicka, computer music *

Philippe Graffin Philippe Graffin (born 1964 in Romilly-sur-Seine) is a French violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinis ...

, violin * Yossif Ivanov (violin) *

Barthold Kuijken Barthold Kuijken (; born 8 March 1949, Dilbeek) is a Belgians, Belgian flautist and Recorder (musical instrument), recorder player, known for playing baroque music on Historically informed performance, historical instruments and particularly kno ...

(baroque) *

Jacques Leduc Jacques Leduc (born November 25, 1941) is a Canadian film director and cinematographer. Biography Leduc began his career in 1961 working as a film critic for the magazine ''Objectif''. The following year, at the age of 21, he was hired as a ca ...

(direction, composition) *

Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens Jacques-Nicolas (Jaak-Nicolaas) Lemmens (3 January 1823 – 30 January 1881), was an organist, music teacher, and composer for his instrument. Biography Born at Zoerle-Parwijs, near Westerlo, Belgium, Lemmens took lessons from François-Josep ...

, organ * Jean Louël, piano * Jan Michiels (piano) *

Norbert Nozy Norbert H. J. Nozy (born 9 September 1952 in Halen, Belgium) is a contemporary Belgian conductor, music educator, and classical saxophonist. Education Nozy was introduced to music at a young age through his father, Norbert Nozy, who was in a loc ...

( brass band) *

Igor Oistrach Igor Davidovich Oistrakh (russian: И́горь Дави́дович О́йстрах; uk, Ігор Давидович Ойстрах 27 April 1931 – 14 August 2021) was a Soviet and Russian violinist. He was described by ''Encyclopædia Brita ...

(violin) *

Philippe Pierlot Philippe Pierlot (born 1958) is a Belgian viola da gamba player and a conductor in historically informed performance. He is also an academic teacher at the royal conservatories of The Hague and Brussels. Career Born in Liège, Pierlot learne ...

(baroque) *

Marie Pleyel Marie Pleyel (born Marie-Félicité-Denise Moke; 4 July or 4 September 1811 – 30 March 1875) was a Belgian concert pianist. Early life With a father from Torhout in Flemish-speaking Belgium who was a language teacher, and a German mother who ...

, piano * Eliane Reyes, piano *

Adolphe Samuel Adolphe-Abraham Samuel (11 July 1824 Liège, Belgium – 11 September 1898 Ghent, Belgium) was a Belgian music critic, teacher, conductor and composer. Biography Adolphe-Abraham Samuel was born in Liège in an artistic family. His parents en ...

, composition * Adrien François Servais (cello) *

André Souris André Souris (; 10 July 1899 – 12 February 1970) was a Belgian composer, conductor, musicologist, and writer associated with the surrealist movement. Biography Souris was born in Marchienne-au-Pont, Belgium, and studied at the Conservatory ...

(direction, composition) * Annelies Van Parys, form analysis *

Henri Vieuxtemps Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps ( 17 February 18206 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th ce ...

, violin *

Boyan Vodenitcharov Boyan Vodenitcharov ( bg, Боян Воденичаров) (born 1960) is a Bulgarian pianist and composer. While a student in Sofia's State Conservatory (where he was later a teacher) he won the 1982 National Composition Competition, and was awar ...

(piano) *

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer and pedagogue who is regarded amongst the greatest violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski were al ...

, violin *

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysaÿe ...

, violin *

Juliusz Zarębski Juliusz Zarębski (3 March 185415 September 1885) was a Polish composer and pianist. Some of his manuscripts have been found in the National Library of Poland (BN). Life Juliusz Zarębski was born on March 3, 1854 in Zhytomyr, now Ukraine (then f ...

, piano

Notable alumni

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his conte ...

Elie Apper Elie Apper (born 1933) is a Belgians, Belgian classical saxophonist who is well known as a former member of the Saxophone Quartet of Belgium ("Le Quatuor Belge de Saxophones"). The quartet was founded in 1953 and made its United States, American d ...

Atar Arad Atar Arad (Hebrew: עתר ארד; born 8 March 1945) is an Israeli American violist, professor of music, essayist and composer. Biography Arad and his brother, architect Ron Arad, were born in Tel Aviv, Israel. Arad began his training on the vio ...

Oskar Back Oskar Back (9 June 18793 January 1963) was a noted Austrian-born Dutch classical violinist and pedagogue. He taught at the Amsterdam Conservatory for 42 years, and also had a significant earlier teaching career in Belgium. Biography Oskar Back w ...

Peter Benoit Peter Benoit (17 August 18348 March 1901) was a Flemish composer of Belgian nationality. Biography Petrus Leonardus Leopoldus Benoit was born in Harelbeke, Flanders, Belgium in 1834. He was taught music at an early age by his father and the vil ...

Fabrizio Cassol Fabrizio Cassol (born 8 June 1964) is a Belgian saxophonist and the first user of the aulochrome (a double-reed instrument). He was born in Ougrée, Belgium. Between 1982 and 1985, he studied at the Liège conservatory and "obtained first priz ...

* Claire Chevallier *

Alain Crépin Alain Crepin (born 28 February 1954) is a Belgian saxophonist, composer, music educator and conductor. Crepin was born in Mettet near Dinant. He began his studies for saxophone, cello and piano at the Music Academy of Dinant. He studied at the ...

* François Daneels *

Lara Fabian Lara Sophie Katy Crokaert (born January 9, 1970), better known as Lara Fabian, is a Belgian-Canadian pop singer and songwriter. She has sold over 20 million records worldwide as of 2021Broadway World (2017)"Lara Fabian annule finalement sa tourn ...

* Gianfranco Pappalardo Fiumara * John Giordano * Edwin Grasse *

Mansoor Hosseini Mansoor Hosseini ( fa, منصور حسینی; born 1967) is an Iranian-Swedish percussionist and composer of classical music, born in Iran, who studied in Paris and Brussels. His works comprise chamber music and orchestral pieces. He founded the E ...

Albert Huybrechts Albert Huybrechts (12 February 1899 in Dinant – 21 February 1938 in Brussels) was a Belgian composer. Life Albert Huybrechts was born into a musical family. His father, Joseph-Jacques Huybrechts, was the double-bassist with the Royal Theatre ...

* Anthony Jennings *

Désiré Magnus Désiré Magnus (né Magnus Deutz; 13 June 1828 – 17 December 1883) was a Belgian concert pianist, teacher and composer of salon music who published under the pseudonym D. Magnus. Biography Magnus was born in Brussels and studied piano with G ...

Alma Moodie Alma Mary Templeton Moodie (12 September 18987 March 1943) was an Australian violinist who established an excellent reputation in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. She was regarded as the foremost female violinist during the inter-war years, and s ...

Norbert H. J. Nozy Norbert H. J. Nozy (born 9 September 1952 in Halen, Belgium) is a contemporary Belgian conductor, music educator, and classical saxophonist. Education Nozy was introduced to music at a young age through his father, Norbert Nozy, who was in a loc ...

André Rieu André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (; is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra. Rieu and his orchestra have turned classical and waltz music into a worldwide concert touring act. He r ...

* Elsa Ruegger * Noël Samyn ( fr) *

* Celia Torra *

José van Dam Joseph, Baron Van Damme (born 27 August 1940 in Brussels), known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone. At the age of 17, he entered the Brussels Royal Conservatory and studied with Frederic Anspach. A year later, he graduated with diplo ...

Carl Verbraeken Carl Gustav Verbraeken (born 18 September 1950 in Wilrijk, Belgium) is a Belgian composer. Verbraeken studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk ...

* Aimee Wiele *

Alfred Wotquenne Alfred Wotquenne (; 25 January 186725 September 1939) was a Belgian musical bibliographer, best known for his catalogues of the works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Christoph Willibald Gluck. Biography Wotquenne was born in Lobbes, Hainault, B ...

References

External links

Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel

Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles

Erasmus University College

Arts Platform Brussels

http://www.lacambre.be

http://www.insas.be

Royal Conservatory of Brussels library catalog

CeBeDeM

Virtual exhibition : La collection de manuscrits de Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) à la Bibliothèque des Conservatoires royaux de Bruxelles
(French only) {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1813 1813 establishments in the Southern Netherlands Arts organizations established in the 1810s Drama schools in Belgium Music schools in Belgium Film schools in Belgium Music in Brussels