Dirk Brossé

Dirk Brossé, born in Ghent, Belgium, has worked all over the world as a conductor and composer. He is currently Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and of Ghent Film Festival and professor of composition and conducting at the School of Arts / Royal Conservatory of Music in Ghent (B). John Williams chose him as Principal Conductor of the Star Wars in Concert World Tour. He has composed some 400 works, including concerti, oratorios, lieder, chamber music and symphonic works. In 2015 Dirk recorded his Cello Concerto Cello concerto for Isabelle, with the talented cellist Marie Hallynck and the London Symphonic Orchestra. He has also composed extensively for cinema, television and stage, for films including Boerenpsalm, Koko Flanel, Daens, The Lovers and Knielen and television including his score for the BBC/HBO series Parade's End which was nominated for an Emmy Award. He has made more than 90 CD recordings and has collaborated with world-class artists such as José Van Dam, Barbara Hendricks, Julia Migenes, Claron McFadden, Julian Lloyd Webber, Sabine Meyer, Alison Balsom, Salvatore Accardo, John Williams, Toots Thielemans, Hans Zimmer, Elmer Bernstein, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Randy Crawford, Lisa Gerrard, Mel Brooks, Maurane, Sinead O' Connor, Maurice Jarre, Michel Legrand, Youssou N'Dour and Marcel Khalifé. He has worked with directors Stijn Coninx, Frank Van Laecke, Susanna White and Roland Joffé, and with writers Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Seth Gaaikema and Didier Van Cauwelaert. He has conducted many top orchestras, both at home and abroad. Amongst them, the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Vancouver Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Philharmonic Orchestras of Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Basel, Madrid, Porto, Birmingham, Ulster, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Queensland, St Petersburg, Los Angeles and Boston. In 2008 he made his first appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in 'A Night of Music from the Movies', featuring the music of Patrick Doyle, with guest appearances by such renowned actors as Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. In 2016 he made his debut at the Carnegie Hall New York. Dirk has been awarded the title Cultural Ambassador of Flanders, the Flemish Parliament's Gold Medal for Merit, the Achille Van Acker Prize, the Joseph Plateau Honorary Award and the Global Thinkers Forum Award for Excellence in Cultural Creativity. In 2010 Dirk Brossé was made an honorary citizen of Destelbergen. In 2013 he was elevated to Belgium's hereditary nobility, with the personal title of Knight. He is a member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts.