In addition to performing in operas and symphonic concerts, the soloists of the Monnaie Orchestra regularly come together to play chamber music. This mainly takes place during the now well established ‘Musical Encounters’ series at La Monnaie on Friday lunchtimes. As a result of these occasional contacts, but also as a result of the performance of Mozart’s Concertante Symphony for four wind instruments and orchestra, there was a growing desire to explore the repertoire for woodwind quintet in a more organized and intensive manner.
The careers of the five members of the quintet have run virtually
in parallel.
After winning several prizes in international
competitions such as Tenuto, the Trompconcours and the
competition of Toulon, they gained several years later much
sought after positions of principal play in the orchestra at La
Monnaie. In addition they also built up solid reputations as
soloists and can be heard on a range of solo and chamber music
CDs. They also pass this variety of painstakingly accumulated
experience on to their students at the various Flemish
Conservatories and in the Lemmens Institute in Leuven.