Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel
The origins of the Music Chapel rest on two strong personalities: Queen Elisabeth, a violinist keen to help young talents, and Eugène Ysaÿe, one of the greatest violinists and composers of his time. Both wanted to support emerging artists through a highly specialized school and an international competition. The competition has been renowned from the start and was to become the Queen Elisabeth Competition. The Music Chapel was inaugurated on 11 July 1939. It is famous for teaching exceptionally talented young musicians. At the time, the famous critic of the day, Emile Vuillermoz, described the Music Chapel as a sort of “modern Villa Medici.”
After the Second World War, the Music Chapel resumed its role as an educational institution in 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. Several generations of elite musicians were to stay in the Music Chapel, occupying an eminent place onstage or in higher education.