Annual report 2023: Presentation

Own concerts

In 2023, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra produced 60 of its own concerts, taking care of the promotion of these concerts and ticket sales itself. In addition to this, the orchestra developed several new formats in the margin of its residency in the Queen Elisabeth Hall, such as Dubbelspel, Spotlicht andde Doe Maar Mee Matinee.

Front-of-House

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra coordinates the front-of-house experience for audiences itself for all concerts that it performs in the Queen Elisabeth Hall, relying on its own hosts. This facilitates a seamless integration between the various front-of-house roles on concert evenings, such as the sale of programme brochures, guiding the public to introductory sessions and meet-and-greets.

Groups

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra pays special attention to associations, which play an important role in reinforcing the social fabric in Flanders. We develop special group deals for them, in partnership with local tourism partners.

Thanks to our academic and cultural partners and our alliance partners, we are also able to reach a large number of concertgoers. In many cases, this is their first visit ever to a classic concert hall. We also developed Neighbour Partnerships for businesses based around the Queen Elisabeth Hall, such as Nokia and DPG Media, enabling their employees to attend selected concerts at a very affordable price.

Custodian of the classical repertoire in the Queen Elisabeth Hall

Elisabeth Klassiek

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is not only the Queen Elisabeth Hall's resident orchestra, but also the guardian of the classical repertoire in the golden hall. 'Elisabeth Klassiek' is the hallmark awarded by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra to high-quality classical concerts.

Read more about Elisabeth Klassiek

Laureates of the Queen Elisabeth Competition

As one of the three Belgian music institutions linked to the name of Queen Elisabeth, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, as resident orchestra of the Queen Elisabeth Hall, likes to give laureates and winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition the opportunity to shine on the stage of the Golden Hall, together with a top-level orchestra. For instance, pianist Lukáš Vondráček was the central guest of the Elisabeth Week in January 2023, and Sergei Khachatryan shone for the orchestra in March with Bruch's Violin Concerto.

International guest orchestras

Once again in 2023, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with De Singel and Cofena, opened its home to world-class orchestras. In so doing, the orchestra extends the international symphonic offering in Antwerp with a top-class selection of concerts that complements its own programme, while placing itself in an international context. These concerts also raise the profile of the Queen Elisabeth Hall and the visibility of Antwerp among elite concert hall audiences.

In 2023, we welcomed the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

2023 was also the year when the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra launched its collaboration with Cofena. From now on, the two institutions will jointly organise series of concerts by top international orchestras in the Golden Hall. This will put the Queen Elisabeth Hall even more on the map as a world-class classical concert hall.

Fundraising/Partners

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra’s corporate giving programme targets and involves the business community directly. In addition to this, the orchestra also invests in partnerships with non-artistic partners (see insert). All these partners have the opportunity to play an active role as a cultural partner in the margin of the orchestra’s residence in the Queen Elisabeth Hall.

In 2023, the orchestra took advantage of the tax shelter for the sixth consecutive year, raising €1,658,500.00.

Instruments

Thanks to additional support from the orchestra’s Business Circle and the Patrons’ Guild in the form of gifts and long-term loans, the orchestra was able to further develop its organisation and invest in instruments.

Among the acquisitions made in 2023 was an extremely valuable cello. Our cellist Olivier Robe's eye fell on a rare 17th-century Grancino cello from Milan, made in 1695. Financially unfeasible for the orchestra, but fortunately we could count on a private investor with a big heart for culture. She bought the instrument for us and gave it on long-term loan. So Olivier now enjoys playing the Ferrari among cellos every week. Thanks to donations, it was also possible to purchase a reed-cutting machine, which now enables our oboists to cut reeds of the best quality to size.

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