Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel
The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel is a Belgian academic institution for artistic training of young musicians, which was created by Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. History. Offshoot of ideas about musical training initiated by Eugène Ysaÿe 20 years earlier, the Music Chapel was inaugurated on 12 July 1939 by Queen Elisabeth. It is one of three musical institutions (the others being the Queen Elisabeth Competition and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the residence orchestra of the Queen Elisabeth Hall) dedicated to the former Queen. After the Second World War, the Music Chapel resumed its role as an educational institution  as of 1956. Up to 2004, it welcomed a dozen young musicians and composers in residence, each supervised by a professor of their choice, for three-year cycles. A few generations of elite musicians were to stay in the college, occupying an eminent place on stage or in higher education. Legendary for its elite intake and output, the Music Chapel has consistently produced exceptionally world-class musicians and counts Plamena Mangova (piano), Yossif Ivanov (violin), Esther Yoo (violin), Lorenzo Gatto (violin), Vineta Sareika (Artemis Quartet), Hendrickje Van Kerckhove (soprano), Emmanuel Krivine (conductor), among its alumni. Functioning. In 2004, its purpose  was completely transformed and is nowadays based on two aspects: musical life and a flagship institution through its connections with orchestras, festivals and broadcasters, locally and abroad. Every year, the Chapel takes more than 50 talented young people in residence, Belgian and foreign. The chapel's budget is currently €2.5 million per annum. 80% of it is financed by the private sector (foundations, companies, private sponsorship, own receipts) and 20% by public subsidies (Federal scientific policy, Ministry of Education, Wallonia Brussels Federation, etc.). The Music Chapel is supported by many cultural patrons and sponsors : Belgacom, ING and Ginion Group  are its main sponsors. Architecture. Built by Yvan Renchon's plans, the Music Chapel was inaugurated on July 11, 1939. The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel building is a specimen of architecture in transition between Art Deco and modernism. The public authorities listed the original building and its park in 1994. After renovation of the interior in 2004 and the structures of the Chapel in 2008-2009 (a public utility foundation which manages the operational side and a public limited company with a social objective which owns the property in Waterloo), the Music Chapel is currently drawing up a large-scale  infrastructure development project. This New Building project is based on: The aim of this project is to double the chapel's reception capacity. (1 800 m2->3 600 m2). The initial budgetary estimate for this project is approx. €5 to 6 million excluding tax. Up till now, €2 million has been funded. The project should be finished by summer 2014.