SYMPHONIC WIND ORCHESTRAST. MICHAEL OF THORN,

THE NETHERLANDS

Fifty kilometres from the Dutch city of Maastricht, Thorn is also known as The White Village. It was founded some 1000 years ago. The historic centre is characterised by the famous white houses, and the authentic premises from the 15th until the 18th century, meandering streets paved with original cobblestones from the river Meuse, intimate courtyards, floor mosaics and medieval vistas. Symphonic Wind Orchestra St Michael of Thorn was founded in 1863 and since then has developed into an orchestra of international fame, embracing both trained amateur instrumentalists and musicians with a professional background.

During the last two decades the orchestra gave more than 200 performances in over 50 different concert halls and theatres, at home and abroad, reaching an audience of some 70,000 people. During that period nearly 250 different compositions were played, nearly 20 hours of radio recordings were made and 9 music CDs were released.

The orchestra performed at the Festival for Modern Wind Music in Uster (Switzerland), the first European Wind Band Festival in London, and has represented the Netherlands on several occasions on conferences of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE). In The Netherlands the orchestra has performed in many theatres and in practically all major concert halls. St Michael was for many years the regular guest orchestra in the concert series “Symphonic Wind Music” by National Dutch Radio (KRO) in the main auditorium of the

music centre Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht. Since 1998, Symphonic Wind Orchestra St Michael also is a regular guest in the Tilburg Concert Hall in the series “Surprising Meetings”. In addition, the orchestra gives regular guest performances at the Amsterdam Classical Canal Festival, and made in 2004 its first appearance as a guest orchestra in a concert series for talented young singers of the Opera Studio Amsterdam, the Dutch Opera training institute.

Through its innovative and diverse programming, Symphonic Wind Orchestra St Michael has received countless prizes in national and international music competitions. For example, the orchestra has won the top musical award at the Kerkrade World Music Contest three times.

The following CD’s are available from the orchestra:• Cosmic Wings (2013) • Persisting Winds (2011)• Contemporary & Romantic Heroes (2006)• Colours (2000) (double CD)• Contrasts (1999)• Percussion of St. Michaël (1998)• St. Michaël plays De Meij (1998)• Ameriques & Dionisiaques (1994)• The Winner Live (1993)

Conductor – Ivan MeylemansThe cooperation between Ivan Meylemans and The Symphonic Wind Orchestra St Michael dates from 1996 when he started performing as trombone soloist with the orchestra on several occasions. From 2005, he has been a well-known musical personality, serving as a guest conductor of St Michael. Since 2013, he has been the chief conductor of the orchestra.

Meylemans was a student of trombone, percussion and piano at the Leuven Academy of Music and at the Gent Academy of Music. He studied orchestra conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in The Hague. As a trombone soloist, he won many national and international music competitions. In 1992 he was appointed solo trombonist of the Belgian Radio and Television

(BRT) Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1994 to 2007 he was the solo trombonist of the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 2002 he won the international conducting competition ‘Vakhtang Jordania’ in Kharkov (Ukraine), among other distinctions, and he was a finalist in the “Donatella Flick Conducting Competition” in London.

Currently, Meylemans is also chief conductor of the Zeeland Symphonic Orchestra in Middelburg (NL) and professor of Orchestral Conducting and conductor of the Symphony Orchestra at one of the finest conservatory’s in Belgium: LUCA School of Arts, based in Leuven. From 2007 to 2012, Meylemans was chief conductor of the Chamber Orchestra Bruges and he served four years as assistant of maestro Mariss Jansons at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam.

As a guest conductor Meylemans has worked with major orchestras in Europe, including The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Flemish Symphony Orchestra as well as the Dortmund Philharmoniker, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Danish Opera Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Sweden and Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. In Asia, Meylemans conducted The Tapei Symphony Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012 he made has opera debut at Opera Zuid, with Jules Massenet’s Manon. He was re-invited the next two seasons to conduct Carmen – Bizet and Die Fledermaus.

Numerous CD’s as well as TV and radio recordings demonstrate Ivan Meylemans’ artistic versatility. In 2010 Ivan conducted Mozart’s “Gran Partita” in a live broadcasted concert for Danish TV with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. For the label Naxos he recorded the Elements Concerti by American composer David Winkler and together with Gavriel Lipkind and the Arnhem Philharmonic he recorded Ernst von Dohnány’s Konzertstuck for Cello and Orchestra. In 2005 Meylemans was awarded the ‘Prix de Salon’. This prize resulted in a first full-CD recording “BRASS” with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Brass (RCO Brass) and their second CD “BRASS TOO” was released on the orchestra’s own record label.