Jos Van Immerseel (born 9 November 1945) is a Belgian

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. Van Immerseel studied

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

at the Antwerp Conservatory under

Flor Peeters Franciscus Florentinus Peeters, Baron Peeters (4 July 1903 – 4 July 1986) was a Belgian composer, organist and academic teacher. He was director of the Conservatorium in Antwerp, Belgium, and organist at Mechelen Cathedral from 1923 to his dea ...

, Eugène Traey and

and

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

Kenneth Gilbert Kenneth Albert Gilbert (December16, 1931April15, 2020) was a Canadian harpsichordist, organist, musicologist, and music educator. Biography Born in Montreal, Gilbert studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal under Yvonn ...

. He created the

Collegium Musicum The Collegium Musicum was one of several types of musical societies that arose in Germany, German and German-Switzerland, Swiss cities and towns during the Protestant Reformation, Reformation and thrived into the mid-18th century. Generally, whil ...

there, developing his interest in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

music, later expanding his activities to include the Classical and early Romantic eras. He is now in demand as a fortepianist in concert halls across Europe, where he is known for his refined sensitivity to the rhetorical aspects of music and for his skills in improvisation. (His cadenzas were singled out in reviews of his Beethoven concerto recordings.) Over the years, he has acquired a unique collection of period keyboard instruments, which travel with him for concerts and CD recordings. In 1977, he attracted international attention when he conducted Monteverdi's ''

L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 318) (), or ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance music, Renaissance/early Baroque music, Baroque ''favola in musica'', or List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a li ...

'' in the former Royal Flemish Opera House in Antwerp. This series of 18 performances established a new standard which remains to this day. From 1980 to 1985, he was the artistic director of the Sweelinck Conservatory of Amsterdam. In 1987 Van Immerseel established the "period instrument" ensemble

Anima Eterna Anima Eterna is a Belgian symphony orchestra administratively based in Bruges. Founded in 1987 by Jos van Immerseel, Anima Eterna is resident at the Concertgebouw, Bruges. History In 1987, van Immerseel founded a baroque ensemble with a handful ...

, which he continues to lead. This ensemble has become well-known and achieved a world-wide reputation particularly for the CD series of Mozart's complete piano concerti (with van Immerseel as soloist and conductor). During 1999 they toured Europe with performances of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

symphonies. In addition to his concertising, Van Immerseel is professor at the Antwerp Conservatory, where he uses historical instruments from the nearby

Vleeshuis Museum The Vleeshuis (Butcher's Hall, or literally Meat House) in Antwerp, Belgium, is a former guildhall. It is now a museum located between the Drie Hespenstraat, the Repenstraat and the Vleeshouwersstraat. The slope where the Drie Hespenstraat meets ...

to give masterclasses. He has also taught at the

Sweelinck Conservatorium The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and the

Conservatoire National Supérieur A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, as well as given masterclasses at festivals in

La Roque-d'Anthéron La Roque-d'Anthéron (; Provençal: ''La Ròca d'Antarron'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. Part of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, it is located on the d ...

, Utrecht,

Sopron Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

and

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

. Van Immerseel appears on Sony Classical's Vivarte imprint as a solo performer, as a soloist with Tafelmusik and as a participant in chamber music. Among his partners were: Midori Seiler (violin),

Claire Chevallier Claire Chevallier (born in 1969) is a Franco-Belgian pianist who specializes in the fortepiano. Biography Chevallier studied piano at the Conservatoires of Nancy and Strasbourg (class of Hélène Boschi) then with Bruno Rigutto in Paris. She ...

(piano duo), Lisa Shklyaver (clarinet), Thomas Bauer (baritone), Yeree Suh (soprano), and Chouchane Siranossian (violin). Since winning first prize at the inaugural Paris International Harpsichord Competition in 1973, Jos Van Immerseel has established an international career as a fortepianist and conductor specializing in music of the Baroque and Classical eras. Accomplished on the organ and piano as well as harpsichord and fortepiano, Van Immerseel has in particular gained a reputation for his performances of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

on Sony Classical. Most recently he has appeared on Vivarte with

Anner Bylsma Anner Bylsma (born Anne Bijlsma; 17 February 1934 – 25 July 2019) was a Dutch cellist who played on both modern and period instruments in a historically informed style. He took an interest in music from an early age. He studied with Carel van ...

in performances of Beethoven's complete cello sonatas (S2K 60761) and with L'Archibudelli in performances of Schubert's ''

Trout Quintet The ''Trout Quintet'' (''Forellenquintett'') is the popular name for the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, by Franz Schubert. The piano quintet was composed in 1819, when he was 22 years old; it was not published, however, until 1829, a year af ...

'' and '' Arpeggione Sonata'' (SK 63361). His cycle of Beethoven Piano concertos with Tafelmusik and

Bruno Weil Bruno Weil (born 24 November 1949, in Hahnstätten) is a German symphonic conductor. He is principal guest conductor of Tafelmusik, the period-instrument group based in Toronto, Music Director of the Carmel Bach Festival in California, and artist ...

(Nos. 1 and 2: SK 68250; Nos. 3 and 4: SK 62824; No. 5: SK 63365) elicited praise for his stylistic sensitivity and his musical sensibility. His recording of Mozart's late piano works, ''Mozart: The Vienna Years'' (S2K 62879), prompted Classic CD to write that Van Immerseel is "among the most winning and authoritative champions of the fortepiano". Since 2002 he has been artistic director of the Collection Anima Eterna for the Parisian label Zig-Zag Territories. In 2010, the city of Bremen awarded him the Prize of the Musikfest Bremen for his career.

References

External links

Sony Classical biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Immerseel, Jos 1945 births Living people Belgian harpsichordists Belgian classical musicians Academic staff of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam Belgian performers of early music Belgian male musicians Belgian male conductors (music) Flemish classical musicians Bach conductors Musicians from Antwerp 21st-century Belgian conductors (music)