For years on end, the BNO rehearsed in a somewhat makeshift concrete space or had to constantly relocate to a place where the music being rehearsed by the orchestra members could be heard and enjoyed.
That is now a thing of the past. Rehearsing now takes place in that transformed concrete structure that has become a true Henry Le Bœuf hall.
Hidden hall
Rehearsing has recently become a pleasure rather than an annoying chore for the musicians, conductors and soloists who are permanently or temporarily associated with the Belgian National Orchestra. They no longer have to move from hall to hall to rehearse properly, nor do they have to squeeze together in that totally outdated hall, willy-nilly, to rehearse symphony this or that. The frustration and unnecessary back-and-forth traveling, laden with equipment, is history. The BNO now has a rehearsal space that others can envy. How could a hidden useless space under the BNO offices and in the building complex of the Ravensteingalerie – the passage from Brussels Central Station to BOZAR – become a hall you want to go to and where rehearsing is no longer work, but pure music-making and where time no longer matters? That is because someone had an idea that was worked out by very knowledgeable people from A to Z, from architects and engineers to skilled workers of all kinds. And – fortunately – once more usefully spent tax money and that of sponsors.
No ordinary day
Friday, January 9, 2026, an ordinary day, except for the BNO and everyone associated with it, such as of course the musicians, but also those who set up chairs, music stands and scores, roll the piano back and forth, make sure the musicians look after their inner well-being with refreshments and food before, during and after rehearsals, that everything is neat and gleaming, that the sanitary facilities shine, that there is no dust on the stairs, that the musicians can change in comfortable conditions and review their scores and much more.
On Friday, January 9, that once concrete space that could serve no purpose was inaugurated by the gentlemen and ladies who lead the BNO, who finance it, who organize everything. Together with the permanent partners of BOZAR and De Munt – the three national musical institutions housed in Brussels – musical life in Brussels, throughout the country and abroad will receive a new impetus, renewed encouragement and motivation to 'go for it'. After all, it is of paramount importance to work (is music-making working?…) in a pleasant environment. Having to perform any kind of labor in ugly gray concrete spaces or any other unpleasant buildings is never motivating to improve morale; quite the contrary.
Here one does not rehearse, one makes music, always
The responsible minister, now Jan Jambon (it was his predecessor who also agreed to the assignment), was able to officially inaugurate the renovated, acoustically excellent 'Atelier BNO', together with the intendant of the BNO, Bob Permentier. The press was invited to attend the inauguration and immediately the glass was raised to the new year. Always nice, such a New Year's reception, but if you get to taste the first tones in such a hall, you're more in the mood for more music than that glass and the bite. A brass quintet opened the festive session and actually, with that, a telling speech without words was delivered. A hall whose stage is a copy of the hall where the BNO performs most frequently, no program goes through without the Henry Le Bœuf hall receiving the orchestra, and then it was an ideal approach to rebuild the rehearsal floor as faithfully as possible to the great concert hall. Acoustically it is a dream, but the eye is also pampered and immediately this space can serve chamber concerts. Because this space is much more than 'just' a rehearsal room, it was named Atelier BNO. And rest assured that many more chamber music concerts and perhaps open rehearsals by and of the BNO will take place here and it will soon be difficult to get a ticket.
Check out some mood images from the inauguration and get the appetite to be there as a listener, or, who knows, as a member of the BNO, soloist or conductor or staff member of the orchestra, to be there more than once, to make music and no longer to rehearse-because-you-have-to.
Welcome to Atelier BNO!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqbhQveAk4k[/embed]
