Every year, the SOV Composers' Academy offers the chance to two to three composers studying at Belgian conservatories to complete a course of several months with the orchestra. During workshops, working sessions and orchestra rehearsals, their compositions are moulded and carefully considered. The final result will be presented to the public during a concert series by Flanders Symphony Orchestra.
Project in collaboration with Muziekcentrum De Bijloke and DE SINGEL.
For the 2024-25 season, after six successful editions, we are giving the SOV Composers' Academy a new impuls. This time we have the honour of welcoming two composers who have already participated. This is a unique opportunity to meet these promising talents again and to follow their development since their last participation. How has our project inspired them? What did they learn? How has their career progressed? Finally, the final result will be proudly presented to our audience during a series of concerts by the Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen.
The selected composers will be asked to write new works in dialogue with the repertoire of our concert programmes. They will again work intensively with our orchestra and experience first-hand how notes come to life in the concert hall. This collaboration provides room for adjustment and valuable feedback from our musicians, creating a stimulating trial-and-error experience.
During the Bolero project, one of the composers will have the opportunity to write a folk song of their own. This work will be performed by both SOV Young and Flanders Symphony Orchestra, who will share the stage during this concert series.
In the Protest concert series, the other young composer will get the chance to write a protest piece that will fit seamlessly with the rest of the concert programme.
Siebe Thijs (1999) already participated in the SOV Composers' Academy in the 2019-2020 season. He then composed ‘Temporalitis’. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent and Antwerp and the University of Arts in Graz, Austria. He will compose a work for the ‘Protest’ concert series in spring 2025.
Emile Daems (1996) composed the work ‘Rerun’ for the SOV Composers' Academy in season 2022-23. It was premiered during the production ‘Chopin 1’. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels under the direction of Annelies Van Parys. He will compose a folk song for the ‘Bolero’ concert series in autumn 2024.
As a young artist, you need talent to stand out from the crowd, but playing opportunities and a professional environment with room for experimentation are at least as important. Through various programmes, Flanders Symphony Orchestra offers talented composers, conductors, musicians and aspiring soloists a taste of orchestral life.
