biography

Flemish chamber orchestra Prima La Musica was founded by Dirk Vermeulen in 1991. Under his artistic direction, it recorded some 20 CDs and performed more than 500 concerts in Belgium and abroad. It collaborated with internationally acclaimed soloists, such as Barbara Hendricks, José van Dam, Isabelle Faust, Cyndia Sieden, Sabine Meyer, Jaap Van Zweden, Peter-Lukas Graf, Peter Zazofsky, Isabelle van Keulen, Stephen Salters, Albrecht Breuninger, Bernard Soustrot, Carlos Bonell, Henning Kraggerud, Lorenzo Gatto, Toots Thielemans, Philippe Catherine, George Duke, Dianna Reeves and Wayne Shorter.

In 2018 Dirk Brossé took over as artistic director of Prima La Musica. Under his inspired leadership, the orchestra took off in a new direction. It has since performed in De Munt, De Vlaamse Opera, De Bijloke, Bozar, Concert Noble and Flagey and collaborated with, Salvatore Accardo, Marie-Noëlle de Calataÿ, Maya Levy, Vladyslava Luchenko, Marie Hallynck, Lisa Jacobs, Hanne Roos, Qilian Chen, Leonard Schreiber, Jef Neve, Ibernice MacBean, Gabriel Rios, and Ozark Henry.

Prima La Musica played the farewell concert for King Albert II. It also performed in acclaimed productions – such as ‘Distortion, a Hymn to Liberty’, ‘From Hope to Joy’, ‘175 jaar Gentse Feesten’, ‘200 jaar UGent’, ‘Slotconcert 14-18’, ‘Leadership in Music’, ‘Cinema Paradiso’, ‘@the Movies’ and ‘Paris s’éveille’ – commissioned by the University of Ghent, the City of Ghent, the Flanders Festival, the Flemish Government, the Province of East-Flanders, the Ghent Film Festival, VIB, BABC, ABB, Atlas Copco, Fost Plus, PMV, The Belgian Government and the Shanghai World Expo.