From the King’s private music band to The Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides
The Royal Band of the Belgian Guides Regiment consists of a symphonic band composed of 70 carefully selected musicians who are all graduates at one of Belgium’s royal conservatories, and a trumpeter corps of 13 equally first-class musicians.
Due to its exceptional qualities, the Band has continuously fascinated many composers, ranging from Berlioz to Stravinsky, as well as large audiences in Belgium and abroad, since its foundation in 1832. This outstanding symphonic band has always had as its principal vocation the promotion of Belgian music. It pursues this objective by means of numerous concerts in Belgium and abroad, as well as radio concerts and compact disc recordings.
The Band was, and is still called upon to create new compositions, and record them on compact discs, by famous foreign composers such as Roger Boutry or Derek Bourgeois, and Belgian composers such as Frédéric Devreese, Francois Glorieux and Robert Groslot.
The Band’s origins date back to 1832, when King Leopold I invited the conductor of the Band of the First Regiment of the Line, Jean Valentin Bender, to form “The King’s own” band, attached to his personal guard. The successive illustrious conductors managed to constantly improve the quality of this band, which soon was considered as one of the world’s best wind bands.
Successful concert tours in Canada, Hungary, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the United States of America, as well as numerous concerts in Denmark, Germany, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Austria have enlarged the Band’s long list of achievements. Highlights were the invitations to play in Ottawa, Quebec and Toronto (Canada), Saint-Louis and Washington (USA), Kerkrade and Utrecht (The Netherlands), Crete (Greece), Bonn, Heidelberg, Köln and Neu-Ulm (Germany), Innsbruck (Austria), Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway) and Avenches (Switzerland) among others.
In November 2007 the Royal Academy of Sciences, Literature and Arts of Belgium awarded its Arts Prize to the Band.
Yves Segers is the conductor of the Royal Guides Band since March 2008. With great professionalism he continues the tradition perpetuated by his famous predecessors, illustrated by several remarkable recordings and numerous prestigious concerts with renowned soloists, in Belgium and abroad.
In August 2011, the Band had the privilege to perform at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow. On 8 June 2012, as part of the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Band was invited to join the orchestra for a performance of the “Symphonie funèbre et triomphale” of Hector Berlioz.
In September 2013, the Band had the privilege to perform the very first concert attended by the new King, H.M. King Philip, and H.M. Queen Mathilde, in the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Ter Kameren church.
In November 2018 the Band had the honour to play a concert at the Royal Palace in Brussels, in the presence of the Royal Family, on the occasion of the remembrance of the end of the First World War. This concert was broadcasted live on radio and television.
In 2022 the Band successfully performed the complete “Carmina Burana” from Carl Orff, with choirs and soloists, in the Bozar Concert Hall in Brussels, on the occasion of the International Military Medicine Congress.
In November 2023 Their Majesties the King and the Queen attended the prestigious Anniversary Concert in the Bozar Concert Hall, on the occasion of King Philip’s 10 years of kingship.
The Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides steadily pleases enthusiastic audiences in Belgium and abroad with its outstanding concerts and impressive discography.
By means of both its artistic concerts, high quality shows at tattoos and military music festivals and its numerous military duties throughout Belgium and abroad, the Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides Band displays a positive image of Belgium and its Defense Department.
Francis Pieters
