ARCO BALENO

Founded as a professional chamber music ensemble by students of Flemish conservatories in 1993, Arco Baleno's aim is to scan diverse musical works for common denominators or messages. Typically the group combine a standard repertoire with less known, often even brand new pieces.
Using their experience as members of Patrick Peire's Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, the musicians devote themselves to stylistically faithful renderings of the baroque and classical chamber music repertoire for flute and strings. Three live CD's with flute quartets by W.A. Mozart, concertos by Vivaldi, and Haydn's London Symphonies met with enormous succes and were critically acclaimed in both foreign and domestic press. Several excerpts of the Vivaldi CD were broadcast on Belgium's classical radio station Klara as 'CD of the week'.
The creation of new music is of great importance to Arco Baleno. A total of 23 works have so far been commissioned from Flemish composers. These pieces are rehearsed, first performed and often recorded on CD in close collaboration with their composers.
The ensemble also pay a great deal of attention to young concertgoers. The coupling of Camille Saint-Saëns' 'Carnival of the Animals' with a brand new procession of Flemish animals was lauded around the country. Arco Baleno have ten CD recordings and several radio performances on their curriculum. They toured Germany, France, Slovenia, the United States of America and the Netherlands after winning the CHAIN-contest in Enschede (Holland) in 1996. They were awarded the Debut Prize for chamber music by Jeugd en Muziek Vlaanderen (Flanders Youth and Music, a member of JMI) and the 'Jeanne and Willem Pelemans Prize'.
Since 2006 Arco Baleno is ambassador of arts for West Flanders.
Arco Baleno is: Peter Verhoyen (flute), Dirk Lievens (violin), Ann-Sofie Vande Ginste (violin), Kaat De Cock (viola), Stefaan Craeynest (violoncello), Jan Verheye (double bass), Guy Penson (harpsich