The Belgian National Orchestra ( nl, Nationaal Orkest van België, french: Orchestre National de Belgique) is a Belgian orchestra, based 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 ...

. Its principal concert venue is the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts (

Bozar The Centre for Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or PSK in Dutch. The b ...

). The orchestra also gives concerts outside of Brussels in such cities as

Sankt-Vith St. Vith (german: Sankt Vith ; french: Saint-Vith ; lb, Sankt Väit ; wa, Sint-Vit) is a city and municipality of East Belgium located in the Walloon province of Liège. It was named after Saint Vitus. On January 1, 2006, St. Vith had a total ...

and Hasselt.

History

The orchestra was founded in 1931 by

Désiré Defauw Désiré Defauw (5 September 1885, Ghent, Belgium – 25 July 1960, Gary, Indiana, United States) was a Belgian conductor and violinist. During World War I he became a refugee, working in London where in 1917 he appeared at the Wigmore Hal ...

as the Brussels Symphony Orchestra, and later reorganized in 1936 into its present form. With its base in the

Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels The Centre for Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or PSK in Dutch. The b ...

and subsidized by the Belgian government, the BNO performs 70 concerts each season in Belgium and abroad, employing 96 musicians. It specializes in the music of the 19th and 20th centuries and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

s. In 2003, contestants in the final round of the

Queen Elisabeth Music Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition ( nl, Koningin Elisabethwedstrijd, french: Concours musical international Reine Élisabeth) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in Brussels. The competition is named after Queen ...

were accompanied by the orchestra, under the direction of

Gilbert Varga Gilbert Varga (born 1952, London) is a British- Hungarian conductor and the Principal Conductor of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. Varga studied violin from the age of four with his father, Tibor Varga, a famous Hungarian violinist and conducto ...

. Prior to the 1958 appointment of

André Cluytens André Cluytens (, ; born Augustin Zulma Alphonse Cluytens; 26 March 19053 June 1967)Baeck E. ''André Cluytens: Itinéraire d’un chef d’orchestre.'' Editions Mardaga, Wavre, 2009. was a Belgian-born French conductor who was active in the con ...

as its music director and permanent conductor, the NOB worked with various conductors including

Karl Böhm Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Life and career Education Karl Böhm was born in Graz. T ...

Erich Kleiber Erich Kleiber (5 August 1890 – 27 January 1956) was an Austrian, later Argentine, conductor, known for his interpretations of the classics and as an advocate of new music. Kleiber was born in Vienna, and after studying at the Prague Conservato ...

, and Pierre Monteux. In February 2016, the NOB announced the appointment of

Hugh Wolff Hugh MacPherson Wolff (born October 21, 1953, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is an American conductor. Biography Born in France while his father was serving in the U.S. Foreign Service, Wolff spent his primary-school years in London. He received his ...

as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2017–2018 season. Wolff is scheduled to stand down as chief conductor at the close of the 2021–2022 season, and subsequently to take the title of ''dirigent emeritus'' (conductor emeritus) for two seasons. In June 2019,

Antony Hermus Antony Hermus (born 1973, Oosterhout, The Netherlands) is a Dutch conductor. Biography Hermus started playing piano at age 6. His piano teachers as a youth included Pieter van Moergastel and Ben Martin Weyand. He later studied with Jacques ...

first guest-conducted the orchestra. Hermus returned for an additional guest-conducting appearance in October 2020. In July 2021, the orchestra announced the appointment of Hermus as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2022–2023 season, with an initial contract of four seasons. In September 2021, the orchestra announced the appointments of

Michael Schønwandt Michael Schønwandt (born 10 September 1953 in Frederiksberg) is a Danish conductor. In Denmark, he studied piano, theory, and composition, and later continued musical studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Biography In 1979, Schønwan ...

as its new associate conductor, and of

Roberto González-Monjas Roberto González-Monjas (born February 23, 1988, in Valladolid, Spain) is a Spanish classical violinist and conductor. Education He studied at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg with Igor Ozim and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama ...

as its new principal guest conductor.

Music directors and principal conductors

(1958–1967) *

Michael Gielen Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aid ...

(1969–1971) *

André Vandernoot André Vandernoot (born 2 June 1927, Brussels; died 6 November 1991, Brussels) was a Belgian conductor. He studied at the Royal Music Conservatory in Brussels, and later flute and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik, Vienna. In 1951, he was ...

(1974–1985) * Georges Octors (1985–1989) *

Mendi Rodan Mendi Rodan (Hebrew: מנדי רודן) (born 17 April 1929; died 9 May 2009) was an Israeli conductor and educator. Biography Mendi Rodan (Rosenblum) was born in Iaşi, Romania, one of three children of Solomon and Miriam Rosenblum. Mendi began p ...

(1983–1989) * Ronald Zollman (1989–1993) *

Yuri Simonov Yuri Ivanovich Simonov (russian: Ю́рий Ива́нович Си́монов; born 4 March 1941 in Saratov, Soviet Union) is a Russian conductor. He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory under Nikolai Rabinovich, and was later an assistant c ...

(1994–2002) *

Mikko Franck Mikko Franck is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Franck was born in Helsinki. He began learning the violin at the age of 5 and started violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in 1992. The Academy let Franck conduct an orchestra in 19 ...

(2002–2007) *

Walter Weller Walter Weller (30 November 1939 – 14 June 2015) was an Austrian-born conductor and classical violinist. He made several recordings over the years, founded his own string quartet. and led/co-led several well known orchestras and operas. Welle ...

(2007–2012) *

Andrey Boreyko Andrey Boreyko (russian: Андре́й Ви́кторович Боре́йко, Andrey Viktorovich Boreyko, pl, Andrzej Borejko; born 22 July 1957) is a Polish-Russian conductor. He has Polish ancestry on his father's side and Russian ancestry ...

(2012–2017) *

(2017–present)

References

External links

Official website of the Belgian National Orchestra
{{Authority control Belgian orchestras

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Musical groups established in 1936 1936 establishments in Belgium