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The Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie (= ORCW; English: Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia) is a Belgian chamber orchestra based in Mons for over half a century. The Orchestra was founded in 1958 by the violinist Lola Bobesco as the ensemble "Les Solistes de Bruxelles" which was later renamed the "Ensemble d'archets Eugène Ysaÿe" and then the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie. In the footsteps of the Music Directors, Augustin Dumay (2003-2013) and Frank Braley (2014-2019), Vahan Mardirossian has now taken up the baton, continuing the work of his predecessors in striving for the highest standards..
The orchestra has regularly worked with some of the foremost artists, including Sergio Alapont, Maurice André, Frank Braley, Renaud Capuçon & Gautier Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, Aldo Ciccolini, Jean-Philippe Collard, Pascal Contet, José Van Dam, Henri Demarquette, Augustin Dumay, Richard Galliano, Lorenzo Gatto, Ivry Gitlis, Arthur Grumiaux, Mathieu Herzog, Philippe Hirschhorn, Gary Hoffman, Steve Houben, Barnabás Kelemen, Gidon Kremer, Louis Lortie, Mischa Maisky, Paul Meyer, Quatuor Modigliani, Georges Octors, Aurélien Pascal, Maria-João Pires, Michel Portal, Anne Queffélec, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Éliane Reyes, Mstislav Rostropovich, Miguel da Silva, Ronald Van Spaendonck, Janos Starker, Antoine Tamestit, Paul Tortelier, Les Violons du Roy, Jean-Pierre Wallez, Jian Wang and others.
The ORCW has been a partner of the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Belgium for more than 20 years, accompanyin soloists, instrumentalists, and vocalists at the semi-finals. It frequently appears at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Élisabeth, the Bozar and Flagey Music and Arts Centres in Brussels, and numerous Belgian festivals. In addition to giving numerous domestic performances, notably in Wallonia (specifically at its residence in Mons) and in Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts), the ensemble is also engaged at famous concert halls and prestigious music festivals abroad, such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Folles Journées in Nantes; as well as in Abu Dhabi, Bayreuth, Beijing, Bilbao, Bucharest, Geneva, Istanbul, Lisbon, Luxembourg, Menton, Munich, Rotterdam, Saint Petersburg, Tokyo, Warsaw, Zürich, and many other cities.
At Mons, its city of residence, the Cultural Capital of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the European Capital of Culture 2015, the ORCW is a partner of Mons Arts de la Scène (MARS), and with the support of the City of Mons it offers programmes of diverse and original repertoire. It holds concerts for young audiences and it gives young artists from the Academy of Music of Mons and ARTS2 (École Supérieure des Arts) the chance to perform. The ORCW regularly gives concerts in Belgium under the direction of its violinist-conductor, Jean-François Chamberlan. |
