A new face on the conductor’s podium, eighty musicians in front of her and a programme bursting with energy. This autumn, the VUB Symphony Orchestra performs its first concert series under its new conductor, Charlotte Panouklia. From 22 November, Ardor Unis will take the orchestra from Brussels to venues across Flanders.
After thirty years under the direction of Jurgen Wayenberg, the VUB Orchestra began a new musical chapter this year. Charlotte Panouklia took up the baton and will lead the orchestra’s annual autumn concert series for the first time. Panouklia brings a wealth of experience to the role. As an orchestral conductor, she has worked with ensembles including the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. She has also built a career as a choral conductor and soprano. When her appointment was announced, she said she was particularly looking forward to making music with the VUB Orchestra’s eighty musicians and “beginning a new musical chapter” together.
With Ardor Unis, that new chapter now takes shape on stage.
One orchestra, one spark
Ardor Unis celebrates the fiery connection that emerges when musicians make music together: a shared breath, shared energy, a shared spark. It is a fitting theme for an orchestra made up of students, alumni, staff, family members and other musicians connected to VUB. That sense of connection is also reflected in a programme that refuses to stay in one musical lane. It ranges from Stravinsky’s L’Oiseau de Feu and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances to Bizet’s Carmen. From Bernstein to Out of Africa and even John Williams’ Star Wars: A New Hope.
Don’t expect an evening that fits neatly into a single musical box. Ardor Unis moves from elegant and stirring to playful, cinematic and exuberant. One question ties it all together: what happens when dozens of musicians bring their individual voices together to create one sound?
From Brussels to Flanders
The concert series opens on Sunday 22 November at 3 pm in Aula Q on the VUB Main Campus in Etterbeek. The orchestra will then travel to Bredene, Mol, Zele and Genk.
- Brussels – VUB Main Campus Etterbeek – Sunday 22 November, 3 pm
- Bredene – Eventcentrum Staf Versluys – Saturday 5 December, 8 pm
- Mol – Schouwburg Rex – Sunday 6 December, 3 pm
- Zele – GC De Wiek – Saturday 12 December, 8 pm – benefit concert
- Genk – C-Mine – Sunday 13 December, 3 pm
Tickets and more information are available at vuborkest.vub.be.
VUB discount
VUB students and staff can use a special discount code when booking their tickets. You can find the code on WeAreVUB Student or WeAreVUB Staff.
