The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel is a Belgian academic institution for artistic training of young musicians, which was created by Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and

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". Early years Born in Liège, Ysaÿe began ...

. It is located in

Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo (; ; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in Wallonia, located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, which in 2011 had a population of 29,706 and an area of . Waterloo lies a short distance south of Brussels, and immedia ...

.Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel
About us: The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, a unique experience. Retrieved 2023-04-03.

History

Offshoot of ideas about musical training initiated by

20 years earlier, the Music Chapel was inaugurated on 12 July 1939 by Queen Elisabeth. It is one of three musical institutions (the others being the

Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

and

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is a Belgian symphony orchestra based in Antwerp, with the Queen Elisabeth Hall as its principal concert venue. The orchestra performs in a number of venues in various cities in Belgium: * Antwerp: Queen Elisabe ...

, the resident orchestra of the Queen Elisabeth Hall) dedicated to the former queen. After the Second World War, the Music Chapel resumed its role as an educational institution as of 1956. Up to 2004, it welcomed a dozen young musicians and composers in residence, each supervised by a professor of their choice, for three-year cycles. A few generations of elite musicians were to stay in the college, occupying an eminent place on stage or in higher education. Legendary for its elite intake and output, the Music Chapel has consistently produced exceptionally world-class musicians and counts

Plamena Mangova Plamena Mangova (born in Pleven, Bulgaria, 1980) is a classical pianist. Mangova studied with Marina Kapatsinskaya at the State Music Academy in Sofia. She went on to study with Dmitri Bashkirov at the Queen Sofía College of Music, Reina Sofía ...

(piano), Yossif Ivanov (violin),

Esther Yoo Esther Yoo (born 11 June 1994) is an American violinist. Early life and education Born in the United States and raised in Europe, Yoo began playing the violin at the age of 4 and made her concert debut aged 8. She attended the International Schoo ...

(violin), Lorenzo Gatto (violin),

Vineta Sareika Vineta (sometimes ''Wineta'') is the name of a legendary city at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The legend evolved around traditions about the Medieval emporium called Jumne, Jomsborg, Julin or similar names by the chronicles, and with whi ...

(Artemis Quartet), Hendrickje Van Kerckhove (soprano),

Emmanuel Krivine Emmanuel Krivine (born 7 May 1947, Grenoble) is a French conductor. Biography The son of a Polish mother and a Russian father, Krivine studied the violin as a youth. He was a winner of the ''Premier Prix'' at the Paris Conservatoire, at age 16. ...

(conductor), among its alumni.

Functioning

In 2004, its purpose was completely transformed and is nowadays based on two aspects: * ''High-level training'' in six disciplines (singing, violin, piano, cello, viola and chamber music) with the assistance of Masters in residence. There will be six names in classical music working with the chapel and its young musicians: **

José Van Dam Joseph, Baron Van Damme (born 25 August 1940 in Brussels), known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone, described as having "a magnificent resonant and expressive voice" and being "an excellent actor". Life and career At the age of 17, h ...

(singing) **

Augustin Dumay Augustin Dumay (born 17 January 1949) is a French violinist and conductor from Paris. Biography Dumay was invited as a soloist to appear with Yo-Yo Ma in Paris by Herbert von Karajan. Later on, he performed Béla Bartók's ''Second Concerto'' with ...

(violin) **

Maria João Pires Maria João Alexandre Barbosa Pires (; born 23 July 1944) is a Portuguese classical pianist, widely regarded as one of the leading interpreters of the repertoire of the 18th and 19th centuries. Early life and education Pires was born in Lisbon, ...

(piano) ** Gary Hoffman (cello) ** Miguel da Silva (viola) ** Artemis Quartet (chamber music) * ''Professional involvement'' by means of a network of cultural partners in Belgium (Bozar, Flagey, Monnaie, major orchestras, etc.) and partners from all over the world (France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Japan and the EU). 200 concerts were produced, coproduced or initiated by the chapel. The Music Chapel collaborates with some of the orchestras across the world including the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sinfonia Varsovia, amongst others. It has thus become an actor in musical life and a flagship institution through its connections with orchestras, festivals and broadcasters, locally and abroad. Every year, the Chapel takes more than 50 talented young people in residence, Belgian and foreign. The chapel's budget is currently €4 million per annum. 85% of it is financed by the private sector (foundations, companies, private sponsorship, own receipts) and 15% by public subsidies (Federal scientific policy, Ministry of Education, Wallonia Brussels Federation, etc.). The Music Chapel is supported by many cultural patrons and sponsors:

Belgacom The Proximus Group is a provider of digital services and communication solutions operating in Belgium and international markets. In Belgium, the company offers its main products and services under the brands Proximus, Scarlet, and Mobile Viki ...

ING Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 199 ...

and Ginion Group are its main sponsors.

Architecture

Built to Yvan Renchon's plans, the Music Chapel was inaugurated on 11 July 1939. The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel building is a specimen of architecture in transition between Art Deco and modernism. The public authorities listed the original building and its park in 1994. After renovation of the interior in 2004 and the structures of the Chapel in 2008-2009 (a public utility foundation which manages the operational side and a public limited company with a social objective which owns the property in Waterloo), the Music Chapel is currently drawing up a large-scale infrastructure development project. This New Building project is based on: * Expanding residential accommodation for performers, which has been the project's aim since 1939. * Expanding the teaching areas. * Creating a new broadcasting and recording studio able to accommodate up to 200 performers. The aim of this project is to double the chapel's reception capacity. (1 800 m2->3 600 m2). The initial budgetary estimate for this project is approx. €5 to 6 million excluding tax. The Launoit Wing opened in 2024.

References

{{authority control Music schools in Belgium Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage Educational institutions established in 1937 1939 establishments in Belgium Waterloo, Belgium