Aäron Wajnberg becomes the new director of the Stedelijk Conservatorium te Mechelen. The pianist and piano teacher has been acting director for some time after the cooperation between the city (the employer) and director Tom Van den Eynde was terminated. Wajnberg shares what he wants to convey as director: "A safe place where art appreciation is central and making mistakes is allowed."
The new director, no minor musician (feel free to take a look at the bottom of the article on Wajnberg's website) continues: "This place breathes ambition and has a rich history. With names like August De Boeck, who has had an undeniable impact on the Belgian and even international music world".
Aäron Wajnberg has been a piano teacher at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Antwerpen for several years, where he is part of the management team. According to him, it is particularly important to remain active on stage alongside leading an institution like a conservatory. He claims to better understand the needs of the musician and better realize what happens around and around a stage, the 'place to be' of musicians. Pedagogy, policy and performance thus form a trinity.
Wajnberg's first public activity as new director is to properly guide the information days (21 and 22 June '25) of the Mechelen conservatory. In Wajnberg's view, it should be a first attraction for children and young people to get acquainted with music and the meaning of musical education in something like a conservatory. For these reasons, he wants to keep the threshold low. A good thing, after all, everyone in this music school starts at the bottom of the ladder.
An unanswered question: will we see Aäron Wajnberg active on the (international) stages again? The Mechelen Conservatory is not the smallest in the country and requires a lot of time, especially in terms of policy after the somewhat difficult months it has gone through.