Cello
bachelor of master in de Kunsten

Cello

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For whom?

  • You want to pursue your passion for playing cello and dream of a professional music career.
  • You want to further develop your artistic expertise with the help of internationally renowned professors.
  • You have the necessary knowledge and skills to pass the admission test.

Your future

With your degree in Cello, you can become a freelance musician or play in an orchestra/ensemble. You can also continue studying and become an artist-teacher or perhaps an artistic researcher? This study programme is the preparation for a brilliant future both on and off stage.

Orchestra / Ensemble

Making music in a group format is important for your development and therefore compulsory during your studies. As a cello player, you can join the string orchestra, symphonic orchestra or the contemporary ensemble among others.

Seminar & Masterclasses

Renowned guest professors from Belgium and abroad are invited to pass on their knowledge to you. In recent years, we welcomed Maria Kliegel, Morten Zeuthen, Daniel Müller-Schott & Gary Hoffman among other.

Brussels

You will have the chance to study in a metropolis with both large concert halls as well as small jazz clubs, the ideal starting point for a professional music career. Your campuses are surrounded by beautiful cathedrals, trending coffee bars and green parks to unwind in.

Most of KCB's professors are great professionals with deep musical knowledge and high expectations of the achievements of their students. The school has also offered me the opportunity to play a great deal of chamber music and to be part of several orchestral projects, which allowed me to grow as a musician and to develop strong profesional connections.

Foto van Pau
Pau Valls
Student cello

After your study

Professional music career

With a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Music from the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, you can choose many professional directions. Who knows, you might end up:

  • in a (inter)nationally renowned orchestra or ensemble
  • in the arts education field
  • in the social artistic field
  • at cultural institutions or governments as advisor or policy maker
Pastorale (f Tom De Beuckelaer)

Further studies

Abbreviated bachelor's degree

After your bachelor, you can move on to a master's degree and even an additional master's degree in another instrument, through a abbreviated bachelor's degree. Postgraduates are also among the possibilities.

 
Verkorte Educatieve Master Muziek

Merk je tijdens je studie dat lesgeven iets voor jou is? Aan het KCB kan je ook een Verkorte Educatieve master Muziek volgen. Zo kan je meteen aan de slag als kunstenaar-leraar.

 

Artistic researcher

Interested in a career as an artistic researcher? KCB organises various events around research and also offers you the opportunity to do a PhD in collaboration with the Brussels Arts Platform and the VUB (university).

Your subjects

Bachelor
Required subjects Ba1 (CR) BA2 (CR) BA3 (CR)
Main instrument I, II, III 24 24 27
Chamber music 1, 2   6 6
Orchestra 1, 2, 3  6 6 6
Theory and ear training  1, 2 4 4  
Rhythm and intonation   1, 2 5 5  
Harmony and analysis   1, 2 9 9  
History of music 1, 2, 3 6 6 6
Formal analysis 1     6
Encyclopedia and research 3    
Posture and movement 3    
History of culture     3
Optional subjects     6
Total  60 60 60

Master
Required subjects Ma1 (CR) Ma2 (CR)
Main instrument IV 27  
Master exam   30
Chamber music 3, 4 6 12
Orchestra 4, 5 6 6
Formal analysis 2 6  
Introduction to philosophy 3  
Artistic Research Practices 3  
Optional subjects 9 12
Total  60 60

More information about your subjects.

Alumni in focus

Benjamin Glorieux

Benjamin Glorieux

Benjamin moves through various areas of music: from authentic old to experimental new. He is a cellist, composer and conductor. Benjamin is often invited by festivals or concert halls for a unique in situ creation around a certain theme. Thus he created works for Concertgebouw Brugge ('Erbarme'), Festival van Vlaanderen Kortrijk ('Bach Onder Stroom'), B-Classic Tongeren ('Goldbergs Ghosts'), Ars Musica ('Scheolmlyoo'), and others. Benjamin is a laureate of the Belgian Vocation Foundation and was Best Young Promise of De Klara's.

Stéphanie Huang

Stéphanie is laureate of the International Music Competition Queen Elisabeth of Belgium 2022. She also gives recitals and has already appeared as a guest chamber musician at several national and international festivals (Festival des Midis-Minimes-Belgium, Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival-Japan,... In October 2020, she was awarded the Bourse d'Excellence Patrick Petit. Stéphanie Huang plays in the major concert repertoire (Haydn, Dvorák, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, ...), with various orchestras (Chamber Philharmonic of Flanders, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto /Casa da Música ...).

More info about Stéphanie.

Stéphanie Huang

Your professors

In order to develop your talents to the fullest you need a teacher that is capable to help and motivate you in the right way. Our teaching staff is world renowned and have years and years of experience both as performers but also as pedagogues. 

Do you have any specific questions before you register for the admission tests? Would you like to meet your teacher before you take the big step? Below is a list of all teachers with contact information.

Begeleiding
Olsi Leka

Olsi Leka

Professor Cello & department responsible for low strings

Olsi regularly plays in recital with pianists such as Daniel Blumenthal, Piet Kuijken, François-René Duchable, Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort, Peter Caelen and Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden... He is regularly invited to master classes, workshops and cello internships in many countries in Europe as well as in China... He initiated several individual projects, including CD recordings for various record companies. His latest album "The cello in Madness", produced by the Belgian label Phaedra, collects a number of unknown works for cello and piano as well as highly virtuosic pieces such as the sonata in Re for violin by Pietro Locatelli (1695-1764).

Olsi plays an extraordinary 1830s cello by renowned Italian violin maker Raffaele Gagliano, made available to him by the Eric Feldbusch Foundation. This instrument was gifted by Queen Elisabeth of Belgium to Eric Feldbusch in 1960 on the occasion of the founding of the piano trio 'Queen Elisabeth'.

More information about Olsi.

Contact Olsi:

Email

Jeroen Reuling

Jeroen Reuling

Professor Cello

Born into a family of musicians from Amsterdam, Jeroen Reuling began his cello studies with Jean Decroos. He went on to study with André Navarra at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany, and soon became his assistant. In 1981, Reuling passed the Konzertexamen and completed his studies with Pierre Fournier in Geneva.

He made numerous recordings for radio and television, and in 1983 received the ‘Audience Award’ from the Sonesta Koepelzaal in Amsterdam.
From 1983 to 2004, Jeroen Reuling was principal cellist with the Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra, and now divides his passion for the cello between teaching and chamber music. He is Professor of Cello at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels and until 2015 also connected with the ARTEZ Institute of the Arts in the Netherlands. Jeroen Reuling is also professor at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel since 2011
He regularly holds  masterclasses worldwide.

Since 1995, Jeroen Reuling has given annual masterclasses and concerts at the Rencontres Musicales Internationales in Enghien, near Brussels, Lancut, Przemysl(Poland) and  Riga.

He is Artistic Director of the Schiermonnikoog International Chamber Music Festival in the Netherlands, and is frequently invited to participate in various chamber music projects.

Jeroen has made recordings for Naxos, Ottavio, and Cobra. He plays an Italian cello attributed to Antonio Gagliano, Napoli 1757

Contact Jeroen:

Email

Viviane Spanoghe

Viviane Spanoghe

Professor Cello

Internationally renowned, Viviane Spanoghe is an outstanding cellist who expresses her ideals with passion and determination. She studied with André Messens, Maria Kliegel and János Starker.

She performs as a soloist and chamber musician in both domestic and foreign venues. Her principal duo with pianist André De Groote has been a landmark of Belgian musical life between 1981-2011. Since then, she played with other great artists such as Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Denis Pascal and Jan Michiels to name but a few.

In addition to her extensive Classical repertoire, Viviane Spanoghe has mastered many unjustly neglected or unknown works of the past. Since her twenties, she has also promoted contemporary music in general and inspired composers to write for her, thus gradually opening new worlds of sound and cello technique. 

Her numerous recordings, all reflecting a powerfully sensitive personality, have been widely acclaimed in both national and international press. 

Professor at the Brussels Conservatoire, Viviane Spanoghe persues her art and her pedagogy within a holistic framework, based on a broad view of humanity, music and society.

Contact Viviane:

Email

Projects in the spotlight

Let's Dance | String Orchestra

The string orchestra has no conductor. Thus, the violin, viola, cello and double bass students learn to listen to each other while playing and to tune in well with each other. The string orchestra is led by double bass professor Koenraad Hofman.

Northern Echoes | Symphonic Orchestra

In the symphonic orchestra of autumn 2022, none other than conductor Bjarte Engeset came to teach our students the beauty of Scandinavian music. They performed Nielsen's Helios Overture, Elgar's Concerto in E minor for cello and orchestra with soloist João Gonçalves and Sibelius' second symphony.

foto symfonieorkest

Your campus

Campus Regentschapsstraat & Kleine Zavel

Our campuses are located in the vibrant Sablon district right in the heart of Brussels. The Conservatoire's stately main building on the Regentschapsstraat with its magnificent Concert Hall is one of Brussel's landmarks. Around the corner is our campus on Kleine Zavel where you can attend classes and study in the best conditions. Moreover, you can use our premises to study during the week and at weekends.

How can I access the campuses?

Alexandre onthaal
Regent KCB

Renovation of the main building

After years of negotiations, we are proud to announce that the plans for the renovation of our impressive main building on Regentschapsstraat have been approved. More info on this can be found here.

Go abroad

During your studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, you will come in contact with the world: after all, you study in Brussels, Europe's most cosmopolitan capital. KCB offers guest lectures by international professionals or by a professor from a foreign partner school, international projects,... we will train you to become a professional ready for tomorrow's increasingly international world.

Do you want to spend some time abroad yourself? You can! Studying for a semester (or academic year) at a partner university or doing an internship abroad, mais oui, of course! Find out more about internationalisation.

KVDS KCB

Visit us!

Info Moments

We organise several info moments during the second semester, such as (online) info days and open class moments.

Concerts

We welcome you to our many concerts, masterclasses and research days. Also come and listen to a caleidoscoop concert by our BA1 and BA2 students or our public exams. That way you can see what you would learn as a future KCB student. Every academic year, there are numerous productions in which our students perform. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay informed.

INFO & TICKETS

Nieuwjaarsconcert HIPP

Enrolment & Admission Tests

To start your studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, you must pass an artistic admission test. For information on the entrance exams - such as dates, the programmes to prepare, the enrolment conditions/fees and the module to enrol - click on the button below.

ADMISSION TESTS

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Any question?

For more information on this programme you can contact the student administration via secretariaat.kcb@ehb.be.