Le Concert Olympique is a forty-five-piece European orchestra, conducted by Jan Caeyers. Its repertoire focuses on well-known and lesser-known works by Beethoven and his contemporaries, including Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn. The musicians, who hail from all over Europe, are united by their ambition to perform at the highest level. The orchestra’s performance within the framework of clearly defined projects ensures the necessary focus on stage, behind the scenes, and in the concert hall.

Jan Caeyers founded Le Concert Olympique as a Beethoven orchestra. It is not only Beethoven’s music that makes him interesting. He symbolises crossing boundaries and transforming crises into positive motivation. Le Concert Olympique consciously invests in research, innovation, education, and an intercultural vision of classical music. To create contemporary music inspired by Beethoven’s legacy, the orchestra collaborates with composers such as Jeroen D’hoe and Jens Joneleit.

The theme of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is »All men shall be brothers«. Through the universal language of music, Beethoven connects people and invites them to work for a better world. Le Concert Olympique shares this message with the general public. The ensemble offers profound yet refreshing interpretations of Beethoven’s masterpieces, showcasing a distinctive orchestral sound and boundless energy. It works with modern instruments and feels connected to the stylistic insights of historical performance practice.

The orchestra takes its name from »Le Concert de la Société Olympique«, the most important concert organisation in Paris between 1782 and 1789. In 1785, this organisation caused a sensation when it commissioned six symphonies from Joseph Haydn. These works, known as the »Paris Symphonies«, marked the birth of the modern classical symphony. Le Concert de la Société Olympique was founded in the Palais-Royal, the birthplace of the progressive, pre-Revolutionary social movement in France. This spirit of innovation and modernity forms the orchestra’s basic philosophy: the ›old‹ does not exclude the ›new‹.