Articles first published June 2016 for the 20 years anniversary
The early years
By Graham Stroud (President 1998-2001)
It all began with a group of friends (including Alain Baudhuin, Bernard Pieters, Sabina Colling, Raphaël Goulet and Céline Gauer), both string and wind players, who had met over the years to play some of the standard pieces of larger chamber music – Beethoven’s Septet, Schubert’s Octet, Spohr’s Nonet, etc. The problem with these pieces is that there are not very many of them – at least, not high quality ones – and you soon find yourself recycling a few favourites. Someone then had the good idea that it wouldn’t take the addition of very many players to expand the group into a small chamber orchestra, when the repertoire choices would suddenly be almost infinite.
There were, of course, other amateur orchestras in and around Brussels at the time, but they seemed to limp along with a bare minimum of players. The decision to expand was thus taken and the orchestra’s first president, Bernard Pieters, set about bringing the Bruocsella into existence. The orchestra’s name was chosen to avoid any French vs Flemish linguistic difficulties – the orchestra has always welcomed players from all communities and countries. Word very soon spread that a new orchestra had started up, which enticed a lot more players to come and try it out.
The number of wind and brass players knocking on the orchestra’s door meant that the decision to be a chamber orchestra soon had to be revised. Once trombones and tuba were added, the full panoply of orchestral repertoire was open for consideration. The expansion of the orchestra was not without problems, though, as the string section did not expand at quite the same rate as the winds and I can remember rehearsals in the early days when we had more horns than first violins. The other main problem at the time was the wildly fluctuating number of players. Having always had a reasonable proportion of expatriates in the orchestra has meant having access to talented players from many traditions, however unless they are in permanent jobs in and around Brussels, they tend to leave after a short while (usually around three years). I can remember the viola section shrinking from ten players to three in the space of a year! My address book of possible extra players for concerts got bigger and bigger over the years I was the orchestra’s president. Now the orchestra has reached a size that is self-sustaining just through word of mouth.
From the start, it was decided that the orchestra should exist primarily for the purpose of raising money for charitable purposes. This also seemed a good idea, as it would free the orchestra from having to organise concert venues and sell tickets, leaving the administrative side, including publicity, to the charities themselves to organise as they wished. This idea had to be abandoned fairly quickly, unfortunately, as it soon became clear that some charitable organisations had very little idea of how to organise concerts. Thus, quite soon after its founding, the orchestra started to organise and promote its own concerts, in order to have a regular set of performances to work towards.
Perhaps the most memorable concert from my time as president was a planned gala event at the British School in Tervuren, where my son was to be soloist in Richard Strauss’s first horn concerto. Given that he was a pupil at the school, we decided to put on an extra special event where the tickets would include drinks and a buffet dinner. Unfortunately, Belgian weather being what it is, it snowed so heavily that day that most of the people who had bought tickets could not get to the concert and we ended up playing to one of the smallest audiences ever. However, every dark cloud has a silver lining and the orchestra members had a really good feed after the concert!

Founding members of the orchestra still with the BSO after 15 years
Our previous conductors
Alain Baudhuin
Conductor 1996-2002
Since training at the Music academy of Woluwé-Saint-Pierre, Alain Baudhuin has been passionate about orchestras and symphonic music. In 1983 he founded the Symphonic Youth Orchestra of Brussels (OSJB).

He then studied at the Royal Music Conservatory of Brussels and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, first clarinet and chamber music, and then organ. In 1996 with a group of enthusiastic friends he founded the Bruocsella Symphony Orchestra which he conducted for six years, the twentieth anniversary of which we celebrate today. The orchestra continues to be a dynamic mainstay of amateur music in Brussels.
In parallel to his career as an organist, clarinettist and teacher, he also obtained a degree in civil engineering from the Catholic University of Louvain.
Music remains a constant source of joy and shared emotion. He still plays as a soloist, chamber music player and as a member of various orchestral ensembles, a passion which he shares with his wife and four children.
Jan Steenbrugge
Conductor 2002-2013
Born in Ghent in 1977, Jan Steenbrugge started playing the violin at the age of 4½. In 1990 he joined the Flanders Youth Orchestra under the direction of Robert Groslot and also the Belgian Youth Philhamonic Orchestra. From 1995 to 1999, he studied at the Boston Conservatory with Zinaida Gilels and was awarded a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance Magna Cum Laude.

Back in Belgium, he continued his studies and obtained Masters Degrees in violin performance (Prof. Katalin Sebestyen) and in orchestral conducting (Prof. Silveer Van den Broek) at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He followed numerous masterclasses, most notably with Zakhar Bron and Godfried Schneider for violin and Bernard Haitink, Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstam for conducting.
Several orchestras have appreciated his conducting skills, including the Flemish Radio Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Wuppertal and Lucerne, and of course, the Bruocsella Symphony Orchestra, of which he was the principal conductor from 2002 until 2013.
The presidents of the BSO
Bernard Pieters (1996-1998)
Graham Stroud (1998-2001)
Clare Roberts (2001-2002)
Anne-Catherine DeFraigne (2002-2004) Deputy – Rachel Haggar
Alice Bacri (2004-2009)
Mary Wiklander-Williams (2009-2024)
Clare Morley (2024)
Patrik Peynsaert (2024 – )