Dilettante Music

Since its founding in 1979 by British choral enthusiasts, the Brussels Choral Society - BCS - has grown in numbers, nationalities and musical stature. It has become the largest international symphonic choir in Belgium, with more than 120 singers from over 20 countries. Eric Delson took over as Musical Director in 2003, following on from Tom Cunningham, a Scot who had been at the helm for 18 years.
The BCS has sung not only perennial choral favourites such as Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the Requiems by Mozart and Fauré, but also lesser-known works by composers such as Szymanowski and Honegger, as well as lighter fare including Christmas carols, madrigals and spirituals. It has also performed Kodaly, Janacek and Prokofiev in Hungarian, Czech and Russian. Many of these concerts have been broadcast.

Particularly rewarding for choir and audience alike has been the discovery of composers almost unknown outside Belgium, such as Joseph Jongen and Flor Peeters. The Festival de Wallonie 2000 was marked by an acclaimed performance of the lyrical symphonic poem Freyhir, a neglected but surprisingly topical work by Emile Mathieu in which the BCS collaborated with the Chœur Symphonique de Namur and the Orchestre de Liège conducted by Jean-Pierre Haeck. A CD of this concert, the first recording of this work, was released the following year.

In 1999 the BCS celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special programme featuring highlights of four centuries of music, with works by Bach, Monteverdi, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Poulenc and contemporary composers De Cormier and Delson. The world premiere performance of Delson's A Holiday Triptych was one of the highlights of the 1999 Festive Joy concert, which was also recorded (see discography).

Recent years have brought invitations to sing with soloists like Barbara Hendricks and José Van Dam and, in April 2003, the choir had the honour of performing at the wedding of Prince Laurent and Princess Claire in the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudule.

The Brussels Choral Society celebrated its Silver Jubilee year with a gala concert of Mendelssohn’s Oratorio Paulus at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, on 12 June 2004, under the baton of Janos Àcs.

In 2004 the BCS returned to a contemporary repertoire with works by Arvo Pärt and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Collaboration with the Ensemble Orchestral de Bruxelles also brought concerts of several major works in 2005 and 2006: the Mozart Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and the Messa di Gloria by Puccini.

When at home, the choir often performs in the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. It has also been invited to sing at other venues throughout Belgium, most notably in Antwerp, Liège, Namur, Charleroi and Gent.
PERFORMANCES ABROAD The BCS has been invited to sing Jongen at Moscow Conservatory's Great Hall and Budapest's Matthias Church, Mozart at Budapest's prestigious Liszt Academy, Brahms at Guildford Cathedral, opera choruses in Lille, Walton's Belshazzar's Feast at London's Royal Albert Hall, Bellini’s Norma, Gounod’s Faust and Puccini’s Tosca at De Doelen, Rotterdam and a Berlioz programme in Ely Cathedral.

INVITATIONS TO FESTIVALS
As well as being a regular participant in the Brussels Summer Festival concert series on the Grand Place and the annual Fête de la Musique, the Brussels Choral Society has also sung at the Festival de Wallonie and the Festival van Vlaanderen, the Guildford Festival (UK), the World Music Festival in Kerkrade (Netherlands) and was invited to commemorate the Berlioz bi-centenary at the Cambridge Festival (UK) in autumn 2003. Last year the choir was invited to sing at the Brussels edition of the Last Night of the Proms concert in front of the Royal Palace.

NOTABLE MUSICAL COLLABORATIONS

The Brussels Choral Society’s regular partnerships with the Vlaams Radio Orkest began in 2001 with a gala performance of Verdi’s Requiem under conductor Michel Tilkin. This was followed by Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Festival van Vlaanderen conducted by Yoel Levi, and has since resulted in annual opera performances at Rotterdam’s Concertgebouw De Doelen, with singers such as soprano Leontina Vaduva and under conductors such as Keri-Lynn Wilson and John Neshling. The choir recently sang a series of televised performances of Mahler’s 3rd symphony with this orchestra under Yoel Levi’s direction in Leuven, Gent and Brussels, and concerts at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, of music by Charles Ives and Mendelssohn.

Performances with the Belgian National Orchestra under the auspices of the Brussels Philharmonic Society have been a regular feature in the Brussels Choral Society’s concert seasons under permanent conductors Ronald Zollman and Yuri Simonov. A result of the close musical relationship between the two organisations were concerts of American and Polish music under guest conductors Roman Kofman and Antoni Wit, as well as other works with notable conductors such as Marc Soustrot and Karl-Anton Rickenbacher. Gounod’s Messe de Sainte-Cécile conducted by Yuri Simonov, was televised and broadcast live on Eurovision in honour of the 44th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in 2001. Dvořák’s rarely performed Requiem in June 2002 served as a gala occasion for the Belgian National Orchestra and the Brussels Choral Society to bid farewell to Yuri Simonov, whose last concert this was as the orchestra’s permanent conductor.

The Brussels Choral Society has also had the privilege of performing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra. Other regular musical partners have been the Orchestre Symphonique des Jeunes de Bruxelles, the Royal Band of the Belgian Guides, the Ensemble Orchestral de Bruxelles, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège et de la Communauté Française and Prima la Musica.

Old friendships were renewed in recent years at events such as a gala concert in support of breast cancer with bass-baritone José Van Dam and another Christmas concert with soprano Barbara Hendricks; and new ones were cemented with the talented conductor Patrick Davin and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège et de la Communauté Française. After an invitation to sing at the 10th anniversary gala of the Fondation Reine Paola in the presence of Her Majesty, BCS was honoured to perform at the wedding of Prince Laurent of Belgium and Princess Claire in April 2003 at the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudule. Her Royal Highness, Princess Claire, is now Patron of the Brussels Choral Society.

DISCOGRAPHY

Christmas Concert (Pavane ADW7193)

World Première recording of Mass Opus 130 by Joseph Jongen and works by Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel (Pavane ADW7242)

Stabat Mater by Antonin Dvorák (BCS9801)

Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé (René Gailly CD87 146)

Festive Joy - A Seasonal Concert (BCS9901)

Freyhir: poème lyrique et symphonique by Emile Mathieu (CYP 5683)