Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel
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The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel is a Belgian academic institution for artistic training of exceptionally gifted young musicians, which was created by H.M the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium.
History
Offshoot of ideas about musical training initiated by Eugène Ysaÿe 20 years earlier, the Music Chapel was inaugurated on 12July 1939 by Queen Elisabeth.
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 of 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 (piano), Yossif Ivanov (violin), Esther Yoo (violin), Lorenzo Gatto (violin), Vineta Sareika (Artemis Quartet), Hendrickje Van Kerckhove (soprano), Emmanuel Krivine (conductor), among its alumni.
Functioning
In 2004, its purpose was completely transformed and is nowadays based on two aspects:
- High-level training in five disciplines (singing, violin, piano, cello and chamber music) with the assistance of Masters in residence. There will be six great names in classical music working with the Chapel and its young musicians:
- José Van Dam (singing)
- Augustin Dumay (violin)
- Maria João Pires (piano)
- Abdel Rahman El Bacha (piano)
- Gary Hoffman (cello)
- 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 best 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.
The Music Chapel's artistic training is based on three pillars:
- Openness: The Music Chapel takes up an international vocation whilst embedded in a Belgian landscape.
- Flexibility: The Music Chapel tries to adapt to the profile of each young musician by offering a tailor-made programme (variable cycles).
- Excellence: The masters in residence (José van Dam, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Augustin Dumay, Maria João Pires, Gary Hoffman and the Artemis Quartet) and their guests (June Anderson, Dmitri Bashkirov, ...)attest to a spirit of apprenticeship for the young artists.
Every year, the Chapel welcomes more than 50 talented young people in residence, Belgian and foreign. The Chapel's aim is to be among the best training institutions for talented young people. Every year, the Chapel's students take part to many international music competitions.
The Chapel's budget is currently € 2.5 million per annum. 80% of it is financed by the private sector (foundations, companies, private sponsorship, own receipts) and 20% 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, ING and Ginion Group are its main sponsors.
Architectural Heritage
Built by Yvan Renchon's plans, the Music Chapel was inaugurated in July 11, 1939.
The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel building, a specimen of architecture in transition between Art Deco and modernism, was specially designed for its core activity: to welcome and house top level young musicians, giving them the opportunity to improve and to perform on stage under optimal conditions. Realizing the vital importance of this architectural heritage for Belgium, 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. Up till now, € 2 million has been funded. The project should be finished by summer 2014.
Equinox, Social & artistic department
With the support of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.
The Equinox project is devoted to creating and developing children’s choirs. The aim is simple: to share the artistic excellence of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel based on its masters and young musicians with segments of the public that do not have access thereto as a matter of course. The leitmotiv of such a project, which constitutes the pervading spirit, is to promote the encounter of cultures and inculcate mutual respect for the pursuit of a common objective. It is a substantive project for the long haul geared to getting music to “take roots” in environments were conditions are not a priori propitious for it to grow: it is a matter of sharing art and culture, but also, simply, equality. Bearing in mind that music is a value that contributes to a certain way of living well, it can only be hoped that it is accessible to all.
With the support of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and thanks to a method that is as experimental as it is efficient, it can amplify the social effects by raising the level of artistic achievement. Involved across the board, the young musicians from the Music Chapel are invited to take part in this entire process, in brief to bring artistic quality to bear on projects in dire need thereof.
The idea is to invite children to join a choir that works every day so as to promote the acquisition of habits and gradually, a real musical identity. It is not merely a matter of “making music,” but of acquiring an intimate, structuring and fulfilling practice: of feeling like a musician. Such a process promotes solidarity between children, the meaning of the others, good fellowship, emulation distinct from competition, and the development of self-esteem, of course. These choirs will naturally welcome students of all origins and at times, even their parents, for certain activities; such an approach is obviously particularly well-suited for Brussels, where interculturalism is a reality of every instance.
Developed long ago by Maria João Pires, the work method is intended to bolster the child’s capacities by promoting artistic expressing through music. It is naturally music training intended to acquire specific skills, but also, more broadly, to stimulate artistic sensitivity. In concrete terms, children familiarize themselves gradually with a repertoire which they appropriate very quickly and which becomes a real cultural heritage. The notion of listening is particularly important, as it enables children to develop a critical sense, an analytical acumen, and concentration, but is also an active metaphor for the respect of the other as such.
At the end of the school year of 2013/2014 Equinox developed choirs and workshops in Brussels, in partnership with the children's homes of Reine Marie Henriette and Ancre, as well as the school Athénée Royal Victor Horta; in Chastre at La Petite Maison, Psychiatric Hospital for Children and Adolescents; and in Burundi, with Bujumbura's SOS Children's Village. The children and young meet together, as much as possible, for the concerts.