Martyn Brabbins (Principal Guest Conductor)

British conductor Martyn Brabbins has been appointed as Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (deFilharmonie) for a four-year period (2009-2013) from September 2009 onwards. The collaboration will lead among others to a series of recordings for the prestigious British classical record label Hyperion, as well as a number of innovative concert formulas. Martyn Brabbins will fulfil an important, complementary role, in addition to the collaboration between Chief Conductor Jaap van Zweden and Principal Conductor Philippe Herreweghe.

The Royal Flemish Philharmonic welcomed Martyn Brabbins as a guest conductor for the first time in October 2005. In the frame of the Music@venture Festival, Brabbins conducted a concert featuring music by Param Vir, Jonathan Harvey and Olivier Messiaen. In 2007 and 2008, he once again collaborated with the orchestra, conducting programmes featuring modern and contemporary music. Both the conductor and the orchestra alike enjoyed this stimulating and utterly inspiring collaboration.

Brabbins is one of the leading and most versatile British conductors of his generation. He started his career as a conductor in Saint Petersburg, as a student with Ilya Musin. After winning first prize at the Leeds Conductors' Competition, his career took off. Since then, he has worked with Britain’s most prominent orchestras, and has been invited to guest by various international top orchestras and opera houses. In addition to his regular orchestra and opera repertory, Martyn Brabbins is very much in demand as a conductor of contemporary music. His marked interest in the unknown romantic repertory is characteristic of his musical curiosity. This preference is reflected in his comprehensive discography.

The Royal Flemish Philharmonic will use Brabbins’ expertise for the traditional concert programme, as well as for a series of innovative concert formulas and musical-cultural projects. The emphasis in the collaboration is on the willingness to expand the orchestra’s symphonic repertory and to reinforce the Royal Flemish Philharmonic’s international character.

Projects

Brabbins’ attention for the unknown romantic repertory will lead among others to a series of CD recordings including Flemish, nineteenth-century music for the prestigious British classical record label Hyperion. The first CD in this series includes the very first recording of Lodewijk Mortelmans' Homerische symfonie (Homeric Symphony).

Another project is that of the interactive school performances, entitled Masterworks. Together with digital TV channel Euro1080, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic will be creating lively documentaries about a number of classical masterpieces. Video projections and live music will contribute to a unique listening experience, tailored to please the ears of young listeners.

Brabbins has also committed to serve as the musical director of a new music festival in Antwerp, which wishes to distance itself from the ordinary concert experience, while exploring new dimensions within the listening experience. The Royal Flemish Philharmonic and Brabbins want to break through the barriers of the concert tradition, in order to guide the old and new orchestra repertories into the twenty-first century.

This season, Martyn Brabbins will be conducting the Royal Flemish Philharmonic at the Rudolfinum in Prague, at the Almere open air festival in the Netherlands and during the orchestra's tour through China.