Annual report 2024: Production

Symphonic Sounds

In 2024, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, led by its resident conductors, renowned guest conductors and together with top soloists, performed a range of highlights from the symphonic repertoire. Together with abdicating chief conductor Elim Chan, the orchestra worked on the monumental symphonies of Gustav Mahler (22, 23 & 24 March) and Johannes Brahms (24 & 25 May).  

Conductor emeritus Jaap van Zweden led the orchestra twice in the major symphonic repertoire, Bruckner's Seventh and Rachmaninov's Second Symphony were on the programme in Brussels (16 May), Antwerp (17 May and 30 November), Bruges (18 May) and Heerlen (1 December). Honorary conductor Philippe Herreweghe also conducted the orchestra in 2024, performing Beethoven's Third Symphony (12 January), Brahms' Second Symphony (7 and 9 March) and Mozart's Requiem in autumn in Antwerp (10 October), Ghent (11 October) and Bruges (12 October).

Flemish heritage

As a Flemish symphony orchestra and a recognised Arts Institution of the Flemish Community, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is a proud ambassador of Flemish music. Through recordings, concerts and composition commissions with Flemish composers, the orchestra actively contributes to the preservation, enrichment and accessibility of our valuable musical heritage.

In its 2024 concerts, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra performed a mix of musical heritage and contemporary creations, with works by Jacqueline Fontyn, Flor Alpaerts and August De Boeck, among others. August De Boeck's Dahomean rhapsody was taken on tour to Slovenia, Austria and Germany in November as a calling card of Flemish musical heritage. A theatre concert based on Pelléas et Mélisande by Ghent-born Nobel laureate Maurice Maeterlinck was brought on stage in June.

In autumn, Antwerp celebrated Ensor Year, with a special focus on the iconic painter's works, most of which can be admired at KMSKA. In collaboration with the museum dome, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra musically brought James Ensor's art to life at the special Ensor concert, preceded by a musical introduction with curator Herwig Todts and pianist Jan Michiels. The concert was broadcast live on Klara.

Contemporary Repertoire

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra keeps classical music alive in the broadest sense of the word. We not only honour the great masterpieces of the past, but we are also a driving force behind new compositions. In this way, we enrich the orchestral repertoire and provide talented composers a platform to share their creations with the world.

In 2024, the orchestra brought six contemporary compositions to Belgium for the first time: Uzu by Toshio Hosokawa (February 9), Three Latin American Dances by Gabriela Lena Frank (February 24), All These Lighted Things (Three Little Dances for Orchestra) by Elizabeth Ogonek (March 22), the Schumann-Fantasy by Hans Zender (April 19), Lumina by Nina Shekhar (May 16), and Anka Kuşu by Fazıl Say (September 27).

Baroque music

After years of hosting the Christmas concert at the Sint-Carolus Borromeuskerk in Antwerp, this year the orchestra opted for a Christmas gala at its residence. This change allowed us to welcome 56% more visitors compared to the Christmas concerts in 2023, and let them enjoy baroque masterpieces by Handel, Bach and Haydn, among others, in the magnificent acoustics and comfort of the Queen Elisabeth Hall. In addition, Bach's St Matthew Passion sounded again in 2024 (16 March), and Bejun Mehta conducted and sang a programme full of highlights from baroque opera (27 April).

Flemish cultural ambassador

As a recognised Flemish Arts Institution, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra plays the most important venues in Flanders, and also serves as a Flemish cultural ambassador abroad.

Dramaturgy

Each season, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra develops a purposeful programming around a seasonal theme. In 2023-2024, it was ‘Vocation’ and the season was dominated by the multi-talented characters that can be found everywhere at Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Conductor emeritus Jaap van Zweden began his career as a celebrated violin soloist. And honorary conductor Philippe Herreweghe once graduated as a psychiatrist. Similarly, the three focus artists (Nicolas Namoradze, Gabriela Montero and Jeremy Denk), who have been central to our seasonal programme each trimester, are each sound examples of this in their own way, as each of them combines artistic expressions across disciplines.

Season 2024-2025 was titled ’About Life‘. During this season, we reflect on the power of musical legacy and the connection between beginnings and endings. Composers such as Beethoven, Mahler and Rachmaninov live on in their works, continuing to touch and inspire us. This season, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra explores how music tells stories about composers' lives and how their legacy is passed on. From first to last compositions, from unfinished masterpieces to new interpretations: we discover how music not only survives, but also acquires meaning through generations. With performances of first and last symphonies, a symposium on musical ‘legacy’ and a look at cyclical and post-minimalist compositions, we connect tradition and future.

Collaborations

In 2025, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra established itself more than ever as a unifying force both within and beyond the cultural landscape. By combining the management of classical programming at the Queen Elisabeth Hall with strategic alliances—such as the concert series featuring top international orchestras in collaboration with Cofena—we continue to enhance our offering for our audience.

Our artistic reach is expanded through the structural deployment of professional choirs such as the Vlaams Radiokoor and Choeur de Chambre de Namur, which collaborated for the first time, and with great success, in the performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under the baton of Jaap van Zweden. For the performance of Holst’s The Planets, the orchestra also worked with the choir of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, and for Mahler’s Second Symphony, with the newly founded VOLT chamber choir.

Furthermore, the orchestra enjoys fruitful collaborations with educational institutions. Youth Orchestra Flanders, for instance, acts as a bridge between conservatoires and the professional stage. Locally, the orchestra also invested in talent through a special project with the Antwerp Youth Orchestra. Additionally, a masterclass by the leading American violinist Benjamin Beilman provided exceptional learning opportunities for students of the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, held within the acoustics of the Queen Elisabeth Hall before a live audience.

International festivals such as Europalia offered us the chance to connect historical heritage with new creations, as seen in the commission from Sánchez-Verdú regarding the marriage of Joanna of Castile and the Flemish Philip the Handsome. Thanks to the support of partners such as the Korean Cultural Institute, BMW, and Proximus (Pickx+), we have succeeded in broadening our mission: from supporting international talent to making our concerts digitally accessible to a wide audience.