(c)-M.-Roobaert
The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel was inaugurated on 12 July 1939 and is known for teaching exceptionally talented young musicians. The Music Chapel brings talented musicians from Belgium into contact with young musicians from around the world whilst strengthening these ties through various national and international institutions of the highest level.
An offshoot of ideas about musical training initiated by Eugène Ysaÿe 20 years earlier, the Music Chapel was inaugurated on 12 July 1939 by Queen Elisabeth. After the Second World War, the Music Chapel resumed its role as an educational institution in 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. Several generations of elite musicians were to stay in the Music Chapel, occupying an eminent place on stage or in higher education.
In 2004, the Music Chapel was thoroughly restructured. Its artistic training is based on three pillars:
Openness: though embedded in the Belgian landscape, the Music Chapel has an international vocation;
Flexibility: the Music Chapel tries to adapt to the profile of each young musician by offering a customized program (variable cycles of study carefully adapted to the actual needs of the most promising young and very young musicians);
Excellence: The Music Chapel offers its students the best educational environment with three Masters in Residence, surrounded by eminent colleagues:
- Augustin Dumay for violin, Maria João Pires for piano, Miguel da Silva for viola and Gary Hoffman for cello.
- A Voice Department, created in cooperation with La Monnaie and headed by José van Dam, offers singers intensive training and concrete professional experience.
- In addition to the individual disciplines, the Music Chapel provides intensive training in chamber music under the direction of the Artemis Quartet.
Lastly, as part of its mission to supervise and support the students to the fullest, the Music Chapel organizes 250 concerts per year, both on the premises and at various music centers in cooperation with other cultural partners. For more information about the Music Chapel, go to their website.