Bruocsella Symphony Orchestra

Alain Baudhuin…

Alain was drawn to music at a very early age and acquired an almost perfect mastery of the record-player during his years at kindergarten. This gave him many deep aesthetic experiences which he shared with others unstintingly; it was thanks to him that his parents experienced the very special contours that the great works of music take on after being listened to more than 28 times in the same day. Though some mean spirits will deplore his destruction of historic recordings in rare moments of clumsiness, it should be recalled that the recording media of the time were so fragile as to be unable to withstand even the delicate tread of a thwarted child.

He began to sing and play the recorder as soon as he was old enough, the first modest steps in what was to be a long musical itinerary. His recorder teacher also taught clarinet, and through his contacts with other young instrumentalists he soon came to realise the extra prestige that this long black instrument with its many shining chrome keys could bring him. He was 9, and his passion for the instrument had already been born. A few years later the same heightened sensitivity led him to start learning to play the organ, struck as he was by the undeniable resemblance its keyboards bore to the cockpit of an aircraft, another object of his boyish fascination.

It was by singing in his local parish choir that he first discovered the experience of vocal music and being conducted by an enthusiastic conductor. He started off as a member of the choir, then went on to become the organist and finally the choirmaster, which earned him the undeserved reputation of a child prodigy. Apart from the many lessons he learnt from conducting this ensemble, some observers see this early experience as the root of a constant craving for power which subsequently secured him the leadership of other ensembles, which inexplicably seemed to bear no grudge against him as a result. One of these ensembles was the Brussels Symphonic Youth Orchestra, which he founded with several friends in 1983 and conducted for 6 years, and another was Bruocsella Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted from its beginnings in 1996 until mid 2002. The latter ensemble is kind enough to accompany him today in this wonderful concerto ¹.

After leaving school Alain Baudhuin studied music at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, from which he graduated in the clarinet, chamber music and the organ. In his organ classes he was greatly enriched by the teaching of Hubert Schoonbroodt, an influence which went well beyond the scope of the classes themselves. He also spent several years studying conducting with René Defossez and rounded off his education with a degree in civil engineering from the Université Catholique de Louvain after studying for this degree at the same time as pursuing a musical career as organist, clarinettist and teacher.

Today his professional activities are restricted to those of an engineer, but music remains for him a constant source of shared emotions. He is still intensely involved in the world of music as soloist or in chamber music and orchestral ensembles. He shares his passion for music with his wife and four children (to whom thanks are due for their endless patience in enduring many thankless exercises as part of the Jean Françaix project).

Through this concerto he hopes to share with today’s audience the unique pleasure of admiring the art of a great composer, little known though he be, and even perhaps arousing some curiosity about the rest of Françaix’s work, which would be a handsome reward for today’s soloist.

A concise biography of Jean Françaix...	Jean Françaix’s Clarinet Concerto...
The music of Jean Françaix...	Contact Alain Baudhuin	Back

1. The choice of a Jean Françaix work is unusual in the world of amateur orchestras. This work presented a particular challenge owing to its difficulty and the many additional complications of 20th century music, from the logistics of the orchestral hardware to the financial uncertainties it entails. The soloist would like to express his warmest thanks to the conductor, Jan Steenbrugge, the members of the orchestra’s administrative board and to the musicians of the orchestra for their contributions to this project.