Royal Conservatory of Brussels

The Royal Conservatory of Brussels is a drama and music college in Brussels, Belgium. An academy for acting and the arts, it has been attended by many of the top actors and actresses in Belgium such as Josse De Pauw, Luk van Mello and Luk De Konink. Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, also studied at the Brussels Conservatory.

In 1967, the institution split into two separate entities: the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, which teaches in Dutch, and the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, which continued teaching in French.

Building
The current Royal Conservatory building consists of three wings arranged around a courtyard, the work of architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer, built to his designs between 1872 and 1876.

The style is neo-Renaissance, influenced by the Lescot Wing of the Louvre. The right wing contains an ornate concert hall. The decorative program of the facade is very elaborate, with five separate pediment sculptures (Instrumental Music by Liège sculptor Adolphe Fassin, Orchestration by Charles van der Stappen, Composition by Antwerp sculptor Frans Deckers, Performing Arts by Antoine-Félix Bouré, and Poetry by Tournai sculptor Barthélemy Frison) and other incidental work including garlands, caryatids, palm trees and musical instruments by sculptors Georges Houtstont, Paul de Vigne, Antoine-Joseph Van Rasbourgh, Auguste Braekevelt, and Égide Mélot.

Directors

 * 1833–1871: François-Joseph Fétis
 * 1871–1908: François-Auguste Gevaert
 * 1908–1912: Edgar Tinel
 * 1912–1925: Léon Du Bois (in French)
 * 1925–1939: Joseph Jongen
 * 1939–1949: Léon Jongen (in German)
 * 1949–1966: Marcel Poot (in German)
 * 1966–1973: Camille Schmit
 * 1974–1987: Eric Feldbusch
 * 1987–2002: Jean Baily
 * 2003–present: Frédéric de Roos

Notable faculty

 * François Daneels, saxophone
 * Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens
 * Jean Louël
 * Henri Vieuxtemps, violin
 * Eugène Ysaÿe

Notable alumni

 * Elie Apper
 * Oskar Back
 * Isaac Albéniz
 * Fabrizio Cassol
 * Alain Crépin
 * François Daneels
 * John Giordano
 * Edwin Grasse
 * Mansoor Hosseini
 * Désiré Magnus
 * Alma Moodie
 * André Rieu
 * Noël Samyn (in French)
 * José van Dam
 * Alfred Wotquenne
 * Norbert H. J. Nozy