Annual report 2024: Development
Nurturing talent
Re-Mix Orchestra
The Re-Mix Orchestra was a socio-educational initiative completed in 2024. Since 2007, under the direction of Paul Griffiths, a new orchestra was formed each year with some 40 young people aged between 12 and 26. Musicians from the orchestra itself were also coached by Griffiths to guide the project competently. In 2024, the Re-Mix Orchestra took part in the very last edition of Re-Mix XXL at the Queen Elisabeth Hall (5 May).
Antwerp Youth Orchestra & Youth Orchestra Flanders
With the Antwerp Youth Orchestra (AJO) and Youth Orchestra Flanders (YOF), the orchestra offers the up-and-coming generation of young talents (up to 26 years old) the chance to gain orchestral experience in a professional setting. Both youth orchestras performed a full orchestra project in 2024.
Baron Swerts Academy
In 2018, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra launched an orchestra academy as a pioneer in Belgium, which has been named ‘Baron Swerts Academy’ since 2023. The Academy is an initiative that offers young, talented musicians the chance to gain valuable orchestral experience in a professional environment. The Academists perform in at least ten orchestral productions, receive coaching from orchestral musicians, take individual lessons, workshops and audition training. In 2024, 14 young musicians participated: 8 Academists in the 2023-2024 season and 5 in 2024-2025.
Masterclasses
Every year, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra welcomes numerous top musicians from all over the world. In 2024, the orchestra organised a masterclass for the first time, giving students of the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp the unique opportunity to learn from a world-class artist.
On 25 October 2024, four violin students from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp worked with top Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma on their interpretation and technique on the Queen Elisabeth Hall stage. This special experience offered the students access to valuable insights and guidance that would otherwise remain out of their reach, in the acoustics and setting of a state-of-the-art concert hall. Moreover, this open masterclass not only created valuable learning moments for the students themselves, but also a particularly enriching experience for the audience, which got an exclusive insight into the process of becoming an artist.
Talent development in the orchestra
The musicians of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra are among the absolute best in their profession. Within the orchestra, they are given further opportunities to continue to develop artistically. In the chamber music series at AMUZ, for instance, they are encouraged to take on the artistic leadership themselves. In addition, musicians are regularly given the opportunity to perform as soloists with the orchestra in the Queen Elisabeth Hall. In 2024 concertmaster Lisanne Soeterbroek, trumpeter Alain De Rudder, clarinettist Nele Delafonteyne, oboist Louis Baumann, clarinettist Benjamin Dieltjens, bassoonist Graziano Moretto and horn player Michaela Bužková performed for the orchestra.
Broadening our audience
With innovative and accessible formats, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra invites young and diverse audiences to discover symphonic music in the Queen Elisabeth Hall.
The Club Concerts offer curious enthusiasts a low-threshold introduction to the energy of a symphonic orchestra. A well-known MC provides a relaxed atmosphere and talks up the evening. In 2024, these concerts were hosted by comedians Michael Van Peel and Soe Nsuki.
At the film concerts, the orchestra plays the soundtrack of iconic blockbusters live, making for an impressive symphonic experience. In 2024, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers attracted as many as 6,560 film and music lovers to the Queen Elisabeth Hall.
The orchestra: recruitment
In 2024, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra organised eight auditions for new orchestral musicians, resulting in the recruitment of five new colleagues. Some of them have already started, while others will join the orchestra in the coming calendar year.
In addition, one audition was held for the Antwerp Youth Orchestra and five for the Baron Swerts Academy, further underlining the orchestra's commitment to young talent and future musical potential.