Royal Flemish Philharmonic

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is a Belgian symphony orchestra based in Antwerp, with its principal concert venue as the Queen Elisabeth Hall. The orchestra performs in a number of venues in various cities in Belgium:

The orchestra operates under the auspices of the government of Flanders. The orchestra previously had the following names:

Earlier orchestral associations in Antwerp included the Société Royale d’Harmonie d'Anvers, founded in 1814. In 1895, the Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde (The Antwerp Royal Society for Zoology or KMDA) had the idea for organising zoo concerts. For this purpose, a special multi-purpose hall was built, now known as the Queen Elisabeth Hall.

In the period after the Second World War, Antwerp had only one professional orchestra, that of the Vlaamse Opera (Royal Flemish Opera). Gaston Ariën envisioned the formation of a full-time symphony orchestra with its own concert space for Antwerp. Together with Jef Maes and Steven Candael, Ariën decided to establish an orchestra modeled after the National Orchestra of Belgium. On 12 November 1955, this orchestra, De Philharmonie, came into formal existence. Finding a venue to rehearse and give concerts remained a challenge for many years. The one space in the city most suitable for the orchestra was the concert hall of the KMDA, which shuttered temporarily for renovations in 1958.

In 1959, Ariën recruited the Dutch conductor Eduard Flipse as the first chief conductor (chef-dirigent) of the orchestra. Following the re-opening of the KMDA, renamed the Queen Elisabeth Hall), the orchestra took up primary residence there. Flipse stood down as chief conductor of De Philharmonie in 1970. Enrique Jorda succeeded Flipse in 1970, and served in the post until 1975.

In 1975, André Vandernoot became chief conductor, and remained in the post in 1983. During his tenure, in 1980, De Philharmonie began a collaboration with the deSingel concert hall. In addition, the then-minister of culture, Karel Poma, had demanded bureaucratic reforms of the orchestra, with the installation of professional management. In response to Poma, De Philharmonie changed its name to De Philharmonie van Vlaanderen in 1983. In 1985, the orchestra changed its name further, to the Koninklijk Filharmonisch Orkest van Vlaanderen (Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra.

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