Soloists have a special place in our music-making and not only because of the nature of their role. What matters to us more than the difference in roles of tutti and soloists, is the extent to which a soloist approaches and understands the music they contribute to in the same way as Anima Eterna Brugge does. When working with soloists the ruling principle is to start off from common ground. Since Anima Eterna Brugge is a group of like-minded musicians with soloist qualities and experience, soloists are naturally chosen from within the orchestra. Who would connect to the musical concept of the orchestra better than its own members? That is why we refer to them as ‘fellows’ rather than soloists.
For the other musicians and the conductor of Anima Eterna Brugge it is always exciting to support their fellow musician in a soloist role. Midori Seiler, Jane Gower, Frank Theuns, Marjan de Haer, Sergei Istomin, Ulrich Hübner, etc are all colleagues, taking up their tutti role with the same ease, pride and joy as they do their solo parts.
After all, almost every orchestral part is a solo part and that is especially true for winds and percussion. Leopold Mozart might have meant just that when he said in his ‘Violinschule’ that if a musician is not capable of playing in an orchestra on a high level, it is not a good idea for him to become a soloist.
For projects that involve singers, pianists or harpsichordist we do invite ‘satellite’ musicians. Singers like Thomas Bauer or Harry van der Kamp, pianists like Claire Chevallier or Pascal Amoyel, enter into a musical partnership with the orchestra members and with their conductor Jos van Immerseel. They are fellows-in-music in the true sense of the word.