Orchestras and conductors
Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie
In 1958, Lola Bobesco created “Les Solistes de Bruxelles” [Brussels Soloists], renamed “Ensemble d’archets Eugène Ysaÿe” [Eugène Ysaÿe String Ensemble], now known as the ‘Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie’ [Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia]. Following the last Music Directors, Augustin Dumay (2003-2013) and Frank Braley (2014-2019), Vahan Mardirossian took the baton to continue their work of excellence.
The orchestra has worked together regularly with the biggest names in music on the most important international stages, as well as performing regularly in Mons, the Cultural Capital of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the European Capital of Culture 2015 : José Van Dam, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Aldo Ciccolini, Mischa Maisky, Maurice André, Arthur Grumiaux, Philippe Hirschhorn, Georges Octors, Jean-Pierre Wallez, Gidon Kremer, Louis Lortie, Jian Wang, Ivry Gitlis, Antoine Tamestit, Henri Demarquette, Richard Galliano, the Modigliani Quartet, Jean-Philippe Collard, Gérard Caussé, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Augustin Dumay, Maria-João Pires ; in Paris, Beijing, Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Bucharest, Bayreuth, Munich, Luxembourg, Zurich, Geneva, Saint Petersburg, Brussels, etc.
The orchestra is a regular partner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition since more than twenty years, the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, and many Belgian and international music festivals. The Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia performs often under the direction of Jean-François Chamberlan, its principal violinist.
In Mons, with Mars (Mons Arts de la Scène) [Mons Performing Arts], and the support of the City of Mons, the orchestra gives concerts with a diversified and original repertoire. It presents concerts for young audiences and offers services to young artists from the Mons Academy of Music and ARTS2 (École Supérieure des Arts).
www.orcw.be
The orchestra has worked together regularly with the biggest names in music on the most important international stages, as well as performing regularly in Mons, the Cultural Capital of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the European Capital of Culture 2015 : José Van Dam, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Aldo Ciccolini, Mischa Maisky, Maurice André, Arthur Grumiaux, Philippe Hirschhorn, Georges Octors, Jean-Pierre Wallez, Gidon Kremer, Louis Lortie, Jian Wang, Ivry Gitlis, Antoine Tamestit, Henri Demarquette, Richard Galliano, the Modigliani Quartet, Jean-Philippe Collard, Gérard Caussé, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Augustin Dumay, Maria-João Pires ; in Paris, Beijing, Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Bucharest, Bayreuth, Munich, Luxembourg, Zurich, Geneva, Saint Petersburg, Brussels, etc.
The orchestra is a regular partner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition since more than twenty years, the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, and many Belgian and international music festivals. The Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia performs often under the direction of Jean-François Chamberlan, its principal violinist.
In Mons, with Mars (Mons Arts de la Scène) [Mons Performing Arts], and the support of the City of Mons, the orchestra gives concerts with a diversified and original repertoire. It presents concerts for young audiences and offers services to young artists from the Mons Academy of Music and ARTS2 (École Supérieure des Arts).
www.orcw.be
- Biography
Vahan Mardirossian
After spending nine years at the head of the Caen Orchestra (2010-2019), Vahan Mardirossian was appointed Chief Conductor of the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong in September 2019 and Music Director of the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia in January 2020. He has also been Music Director of the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia since 2011.
Internationally renowned pianist and conductor, Vahan Mardirossian has been combining his two passions for several years by simultaneously playing and conducting piano concertos (including Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Grieg and Shostakovich). As a soloist, he has performed under the direction of great conductors such as Kurt Masur, Paavo Järvi, Yutaka Sado, John Axelrod and Yuri Ahronovith. He has also recorded several CDs of Schubert, Brahms, Bach, Händel, Beethoven, Tanguy, and Mulsant.
Meeting Kurt Masur was a decisive point in Vahan Mardirossian’s working life. He was invited by Masur to conduct the Manhattan School Orchestra at an orchestra conducting seminar in New York. This opportunity was the start of his conducting career.
In 2005, Vahan Mardirossian founded the ‘Maestria’ orchestra, performing throughout France, including in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and in Toulouse at the Halle aux Grains.
He is regularly invited to conduct prestigious orchestras such as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of the Pays de la Loire, the Sanremo Sinfonica Orchestra, the Royal Seville Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen and the Orchestre Colonne.
He has collaborated with internationally renowned soloists including Ivry Gitlis, Alexander Markov, Augustin Dumay, Akiko Suwanai, Sergeï Babayan, Alexandre Kantorow, Lars Vogt, Vladimir Sverdlov-Ashkenazy, Diemut Poppen, Brigitte Engerer, Xavier Phillips, Kun Woo Paik, Richard Galliano, Viktoria Postnikova, Daishin Kashimoto, Sergueï Nakariakov, Gary Hoffmann, Alexander Chaushian, Roland Pidoux, Alexandra Soumm, Alexander Ghindin, Igor Tchetuev, Polina Leschenko, Ashley Wass, Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabedian, le Trio Wanderer, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Jacques Rouvier, Svetlin Roussev, Marc Coppey, Pavel Vernikov, Nicolas Dautricourt, Stéphane Béchy, Guy Touvron and Stéphanie-Marie Degand.
His wide repertoire ranges from baroque masterpieces to contemporary works (including Tanguy, Saariaho, Rautavaara, Hersant, Dutilleux, Rihm, Kagel, Crumb, Ligeti, Mulsant and Canat de Chizy).
Internationally renowned pianist and conductor, Vahan Mardirossian has been combining his two passions for several years by simultaneously playing and conducting piano concertos (including Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Grieg and Shostakovich). As a soloist, he has performed under the direction of great conductors such as Kurt Masur, Paavo Järvi, Yutaka Sado, John Axelrod and Yuri Ahronovith. He has also recorded several CDs of Schubert, Brahms, Bach, Händel, Beethoven, Tanguy, and Mulsant.
Meeting Kurt Masur was a decisive point in Vahan Mardirossian’s working life. He was invited by Masur to conduct the Manhattan School Orchestra at an orchestra conducting seminar in New York. This opportunity was the start of his conducting career.
In 2005, Vahan Mardirossian founded the ‘Maestria’ orchestra, performing throughout France, including in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and in Toulouse at the Halle aux Grains.
He is regularly invited to conduct prestigious orchestras such as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of the Pays de la Loire, the Sanremo Sinfonica Orchestra, the Royal Seville Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen and the Orchestre Colonne.
He has collaborated with internationally renowned soloists including Ivry Gitlis, Alexander Markov, Augustin Dumay, Akiko Suwanai, Sergeï Babayan, Alexandre Kantorow, Lars Vogt, Vladimir Sverdlov-Ashkenazy, Diemut Poppen, Brigitte Engerer, Xavier Phillips, Kun Woo Paik, Richard Galliano, Viktoria Postnikova, Daishin Kashimoto, Sergueï Nakariakov, Gary Hoffmann, Alexander Chaushian, Roland Pidoux, Alexandra Soumm, Alexander Ghindin, Igor Tchetuev, Polina Leschenko, Ashley Wass, Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabedian, le Trio Wanderer, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Jacques Rouvier, Svetlin Roussev, Marc Coppey, Pavel Vernikov, Nicolas Dautricourt, Stéphane Béchy, Guy Touvron and Stéphanie-Marie Degand.
His wide repertoire ranges from baroque masterpieces to contemporary works (including Tanguy, Saariaho, Rautavaara, Hersant, Dutilleux, Rihm, Kagel, Crumb, Ligeti, Mulsant and Canat de Chizy).
- Biography
Brussels Philharmonic
The Brussels Philharmonic was founded in 1935 by the Belgian public broadcaster (NIR/INR). Since its creation, it has worked with top international conductors and soloists, and was and is known to be a pioneer in performing contemporary music - a reputation that brought world-renowned composers such as Bartók, Stravinsky and Messiaen to Brussels. The orchestra’s historic home port is the Flagey building in Brussels, where it rehearses and performs in Studio 4, in acoustic terms one of the top concert halls in the world.
The French top conductor Stéphane Denève is the music director of the Brussels Philharmonic. His passion for music of the 21st century and his personal mission to open up a dialogue between the repertoire of the past and that of the future ties in with the DNA of the orchestra. Starting in the 2022-23 season, Kazushi Ono will take up the baton as music director of the Brussels Philharmonic.
At the international level, the Brussels Philharmonic has made a name for itself, with regular appearances in the major European capitals. The international representation by IMG Touring brings further tours and concerts in amongst others Japan and the USA. In addition, the orchestra is internationally acclaimed for its expertise in film music, one highlight being the Oscar-winning score for ‘The Artist’. In Belgium, the orchestra is a regular partner of the Film Fest Gent and of MotorMusic, and participates each year in concerts with iconic films.
Meanwhile, the orchestra has proven to be a pioneer in other respects as well, with ground-breaking initiatives including the Tax Shelter, the BXLphil app, the Symphonic Sporting Jacket, the establishment of a foundation for the purchase of string instruments and the partnership with Brussels Airlines, the orchestra embraces innovation in every area and all levels of its activities.
The recordings of Brussels Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon, Palazzetto Bru Zane, Klara/Warner Classics, Film Fest Gent, Brussels Philharmonic Recordings) have been warmly received by the international press and awarded an ECHO Klassik, Choc de Classica de l’année and Diapason d’Or de l’année, amongst others. The Brussels Philharmonic is an institution of the Flemish Community.
www.brusselsphilharmonic.be
The French top conductor Stéphane Denève is the music director of the Brussels Philharmonic. His passion for music of the 21st century and his personal mission to open up a dialogue between the repertoire of the past and that of the future ties in with the DNA of the orchestra. Starting in the 2022-23 season, Kazushi Ono will take up the baton as music director of the Brussels Philharmonic.
At the international level, the Brussels Philharmonic has made a name for itself, with regular appearances in the major European capitals. The international representation by IMG Touring brings further tours and concerts in amongst others Japan and the USA. In addition, the orchestra is internationally acclaimed for its expertise in film music, one highlight being the Oscar-winning score for ‘The Artist’. In Belgium, the orchestra is a regular partner of the Film Fest Gent and of MotorMusic, and participates each year in concerts with iconic films.
Meanwhile, the orchestra has proven to be a pioneer in other respects as well, with ground-breaking initiatives including the Tax Shelter, the BXLphil app, the Symphonic Sporting Jacket, the establishment of a foundation for the purchase of string instruments and the partnership with Brussels Airlines, the orchestra embraces innovation in every area and all levels of its activities.
The recordings of Brussels Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon, Palazzetto Bru Zane, Klara/Warner Classics, Film Fest Gent, Brussels Philharmonic Recordings) have been warmly received by the international press and awarded an ECHO Klassik, Choc de Classica de l’année and Diapason d’Or de l’année, amongst others. The Brussels Philharmonic is an institution of the Flemish Community.
www.brusselsphilharmonic.be
- Biography
Kazushi Ono
Japan
Described as ‘one of the most fascinating musical minds of our era’ and ‘a phenomenon’ (Le Figaro) Kazushi Ono has held the position of Principal Conductor of the Opéra de Lyon since the start of the 08/09 season and is also Conductor Laureate of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and from September 2012 he has been appointed the new Principal Guest Conductor of the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini.
During his current tenure in Lyon there have been new, award winning and critically acclaimed productions of Prokofiev’s The Gambler, Berg’s Lulu, Stravinsky’s Le Rossingol et autre fables and Verdi’s Luisa Miller. This season Kazushi Ono and the Opéra de Lyon will present Shostakovich’s The Nose and Wagner’s Parsifal.
High profile positions have been key to Kazushi Ono’s career thus far, from Principal Conductor of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra (1992-2001) to General Music Director of the Badisches Staatstheater (1996-2002). In 2002, Kazushi Ono succeeded Antonio Pappano as Music Director of La Monnaie, Brussels, where his debut production of Strauss's Elektra was described by the Süddeutsche Zeitung as ‘the miracle of Brussels.’ He enjoyed six highly successful seasons at La Monnaie before moving to Opéra de Lyon. These positions are testimony to the importance he places on devoting time to forging strong relationships with orchestras.
In addition to these tenures, Kazushi Ono has been guest conductor with some of the world’s leading international orchestras including Boston and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Leipzig Gewandhaus; City of Birmingham Symphony; London, Rotterdam, Israel and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras; Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; BBC Symphony and BBC National Orchestra of Wales along with radio orchestras such as Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Finnish and Vienna Radio Symphony and the German radio orchestras of Hamburg, Freiburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Köln.
Guest opera appearances this season will include a return to Glyndbourne for Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges and Bayerische Staatsoper Munich for Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer. Kazushi Ono enjoys relationships with many of the world’s top opera houses and has more recently appeared as a guest conductor for Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Strauss’s Elektra at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Verdi’s Macbeth at La Scala; Hänsel und Gretel at Glyndebourne; Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at The Met and a new production of Szymanowski’s King Roger at Opéra de Paris. Kazushi Ono has conducted almost all of Wagner’s operas, most notably the complete Ring Cycle at the Karlsruhe Opera during his tenure there from 1996-2002 as well as several operatic world premieres including Luca Francesconi’s Ballata, Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjo and Philippe Boesmans’s Julie.
Kazushi Ono has a strong affection for the theatre and works not only with established opera directors such as Luc Bondy, Peter Stein, Laurent Pelly and David McVicar but has also enjoyed collaborations with artists outside the traditional opera field such as the visual artist Jan Fabre, choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and film director François Girard.
His varied catalogue of CD recordings demonstrates his wide repertoire, ranging from Chin (Deutsche Grammophon), Gubaidulina, Britten, Turnage and Rihm to Shostakovich, Mahler, Strauss and Tchaikovsky. Other recent recordings include a 2009 Decca DVD of the acclaimed production of Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel filmed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Glyndebourne as well as releases from the Opus Arte label featuring productions of Verdi’s Aïda and Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, both with La Monnaie, Brussels.
During his current tenure in Lyon there have been new, award winning and critically acclaimed productions of Prokofiev’s The Gambler, Berg’s Lulu, Stravinsky’s Le Rossingol et autre fables and Verdi’s Luisa Miller. This season Kazushi Ono and the Opéra de Lyon will present Shostakovich’s The Nose and Wagner’s Parsifal.
High profile positions have been key to Kazushi Ono’s career thus far, from Principal Conductor of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra (1992-2001) to General Music Director of the Badisches Staatstheater (1996-2002). In 2002, Kazushi Ono succeeded Antonio Pappano as Music Director of La Monnaie, Brussels, where his debut production of Strauss's Elektra was described by the Süddeutsche Zeitung as ‘the miracle of Brussels.’ He enjoyed six highly successful seasons at La Monnaie before moving to Opéra de Lyon. These positions are testimony to the importance he places on devoting time to forging strong relationships with orchestras.
In addition to these tenures, Kazushi Ono has been guest conductor with some of the world’s leading international orchestras including Boston and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Leipzig Gewandhaus; City of Birmingham Symphony; London, Rotterdam, Israel and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras; Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; BBC Symphony and BBC National Orchestra of Wales along with radio orchestras such as Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Finnish and Vienna Radio Symphony and the German radio orchestras of Hamburg, Freiburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Köln.
Guest opera appearances this season will include a return to Glyndbourne for Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges and Bayerische Staatsoper Munich for Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer. Kazushi Ono enjoys relationships with many of the world’s top opera houses and has more recently appeared as a guest conductor for Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Strauss’s Elektra at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Verdi’s Macbeth at La Scala; Hänsel und Gretel at Glyndebourne; Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at The Met and a new production of Szymanowski’s King Roger at Opéra de Paris. Kazushi Ono has conducted almost all of Wagner’s operas, most notably the complete Ring Cycle at the Karlsruhe Opera during his tenure there from 1996-2002 as well as several operatic world premieres including Luca Francesconi’s Ballata, Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjo and Philippe Boesmans’s Julie.
Kazushi Ono has a strong affection for the theatre and works not only with established opera directors such as Luc Bondy, Peter Stein, Laurent Pelly and David McVicar but has also enjoyed collaborations with artists outside the traditional opera field such as the visual artist Jan Fabre, choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and film director François Girard.
His varied catalogue of CD recordings demonstrates his wide repertoire, ranging from Chin (Deutsche Grammophon), Gubaidulina, Britten, Turnage and Rihm to Shostakovich, Mahler, Strauss and Tchaikovsky. Other recent recordings include a 2009 Decca DVD of the acclaimed production of Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel filmed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Glyndebourne as well as releases from the Opus Arte label featuring productions of Verdi’s Aïda and Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, both with La Monnaie, Brussels.
- Biography