English
Belgian conductor and harpsichordist Korneel Bernolet (b. 1989) enjoys an international career driven by his wide-ranging fascination with sound, his immediate vision for music and historical style, and his clear communication skills. As a conductor, he inspires orchestras and singers; as a harpsichordist, he plays the most beautiful instruments; as a pedagogue, he shapes the technical and musical skills of students; and as a recording engineer, he indulges his fascination with microphone technique.
He is endorsed by many early music pioneers: Philippe Herreweghe, whom Korneel assisted in several productions, calls him "a brilliant conductor". Sigiswald Kuijken recognized his "natural talent" by inviting him, from the age of 19, as a continuo player in his Petite Bande. He was also assistant conductor to Jos van Immerseel at Anima Eterna, where he worked on large symphonic repertoires and served as a guest conductor. Since 2014, he has worked closely together with his mentor Christophe Rousset at the world's leading opera houses and concert stages as a guest conductor, "the best assistant ever", and as continuo player of Les Talens Lyriques. He became a Laureate of the SWUK Foundation Flanders in 2013, resulting in his debut solo CD, and was named Young Musician of the Year 2014 by the Belgian Music Press Association, quickly attracting international attention. Since 2023, he has served as jury president at the prestigious international harpsichord and pianoforte competitions of the MA Festival Bruges.
As a guest conductor, Bernolet has worked with Les Talens Lyriques (Pergolesi's San Guglielmo at the Aix-en-Provence opera festival), Anima Eterna and Collegium Vocale (Beethoven's 9th Symphony in Frankfurt and Bruges), Il Gardellino (French Régence at the Tage Alter Musik in Herne, and several oratorio and operatic productions at Concertgebouw Amsterdam), Bach Akademie Australia (Bach cantatas and concertos, and the first-ever Bach Johannes-Passion on period instruments in Canberra), Brussels Philharmonic (Mozart and Haydn symphonies and concertos), Flanders Symphony Orchestra (opera scenes by Mozart and Rossini), International Opera Academy Ghent (Telemann's Orpheus and Mozart's La finta giardiniera), Transparant Music Theatre (Rameau's Les Indes galantes), and the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp (symphonic works and operas by Handel, Rameau, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn). With his own Apotheosis Orchestra, he has conducted Haydn's Schöpfung, the Brahms Requiem, Mendelssohn's Magnificat, and Fauré's Requiem. Growing up in a choral environment, he has also conducted larger works including the Requiems by Mozart, Duruflé, and Verdi, Orff's Carmina Burana, and a significant amount of contemporary repertoire. During his time with Anima Eterna, he rehearsed symphonic repertoire by Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Martinů, Enescu, and even Gershwin. With Christophe Rousset, he works on numerous 17th- and 18th-century opera productions, from Cavalli, Lully and Mouret to Handel, Cimarosa, Rameau, Mozart and Salieri. He has also assisted at B'Rock Orchestra, Flemish Radio Choir, Opera Lafayette Washington DC, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Vokalconsort Berlin, and cantoLX.
At the age of 27, he became Professor of Harpsichord at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, succeeding in the line of Kenneth Gilbert-Jos van Immerseel-Ewald Demeyere. He teaches on the famous original Dulcken 1747 harpsichord at the Museum Vleeshuis, where he is its titular harpsichordist and ambassador. On this magnificent instrument, he has recorded two solo CDs (label Ramée): 'Grand Tour' (Handel, Forqueray, Bach, Boutmy, Scarlatti, Rameau) and 'EnSuite' (Fiocco, C.P.E. Bach, Benda, Geminiani, Duphly), both of which won international prizes, including a 'Joker Absolu' of Crescendo, 'Choc de Classica' and the prestigious 'Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik'. Two solo Bach recordings have been added to the prestigious online 'All of Bach' series by The Netherlands Bach Society. Earlier, he released several chamber music CDs (label Et'cetera) with harpsichord concerti (Pièces de clavecin en concerts by Rameau, world-premiere Quartetti by Weckbacher) and French cantatas (Bernier with soprano Lieselot De Wilde), followed by an orchestral-operatic CD (label Ramée) featuring 'Pygmalion' by Rameau and Benda. His Rameau discs have been hailed as new reference recordings by the international press: "Korneel Bernolet is our new Rameau champion" (Classique News). He performs in duo with Christophe Rousset, for whom he recorded the second harpsichord part in Bach's Kunst der Fuge (label Aparté). In total, he can be heard on some 40 recordings with different groups, as a soloist and continuo player on harpsichord, pianoforte, and organ, including La Petite Bande, Il Gardellino, Transports Publics, Scherzi Musicali, The 1750 Project, BachPlus, and Mannheimer Hofkapelle. He also played, amongst others, at the core of the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées.
All these collaborations have brought him to venues such as Teatro alla Scala Milano, Vienna State Opera, Theater an der Wien, La Monnaie Brussels, Opéra National du Rhin Nancy, Rudolfinum Prague, Flemish Opera, Opéra Comique Paris, Valenciana Temple Guanajuato Mexico, the Philharmonies of Paris, Cologne, and Essen, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, all major concert halls in Belgium, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Kennedy Center Washington DC. He has also performed at festivals and recital venues such as Bach Academy Bruges, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Wunderkammer Trieste, the Canberra International Music Festival (as the main festival star in 2019), Cambridge University, Sydney University, Incheon National University, Château de Chantilly, Kasteel van Poeke, Eszterháza Palace in Fertöd, and Château de Versailles, among others. Bernolet has worked with students and taught masterclasses at institutions such as Juilliard School in New York, Vilnius, Manchester, Namur, Antwerp, Ghent, Sydney, and Aix-en-Provence.
Korneel studied historical keyboard instruments with Paul Clement, Ewald Demeyere, Piet Kuijken, Gustav Leonhardt, Jesper Christensen and Christophe Rousset; conducting with Geert Hendrix and Luc Anthonis, and through masterclasses with Georg Grün, Daan Admiraal, and numerous assistantships; and composition with Wim Henderickx. He earned Master’s degrees in both harpsichord and conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp with stellar marks. He started teaching there during his final year of study and currently presides over the Historically Informed Performance Practice program, conducting projects with various ensembles while also coaching the conducting students. For many years, he taught and conducted at the International Opera Academy Ghent while also doing PhD research at Antwerp University. He teaches a yearly summer masterclass at Museum Vleeshuis in Antwerp, where he co-curates the Antwerp City of Harpsichords concert series.
www.korneel.bernolet.com
He is endorsed by many early music pioneers: Philippe Herreweghe, whom Korneel assisted in several productions, calls him "a brilliant conductor". Sigiswald Kuijken recognized his "natural talent" by inviting him, from the age of 19, as a continuo player in his Petite Bande. He was also assistant conductor to Jos van Immerseel at Anima Eterna, where he worked on large symphonic repertoires and served as a guest conductor. Since 2014, he has worked closely together with his mentor Christophe Rousset at the world's leading opera houses and concert stages as a guest conductor, "the best assistant ever", and as continuo player of Les Talens Lyriques. He became a Laureate of the SWUK Foundation Flanders in 2013, resulting in his debut solo CD, and was named Young Musician of the Year 2014 by the Belgian Music Press Association, quickly attracting international attention. Since 2023, he has served as jury president at the prestigious international harpsichord and pianoforte competitions of the MA Festival Bruges.
As a guest conductor, Bernolet has worked with Les Talens Lyriques (Pergolesi's San Guglielmo at the Aix-en-Provence opera festival), Anima Eterna and Collegium Vocale (Beethoven's 9th Symphony in Frankfurt and Bruges), Il Gardellino (French Régence at the Tage Alter Musik in Herne, and several oratorio and operatic productions at Concertgebouw Amsterdam), Bach Akademie Australia (Bach cantatas and concertos, and the first-ever Bach Johannes-Passion on period instruments in Canberra), Brussels Philharmonic (Mozart and Haydn symphonies and concertos), Flanders Symphony Orchestra (opera scenes by Mozart and Rossini), International Opera Academy Ghent (Telemann's Orpheus and Mozart's La finta giardiniera), Transparant Music Theatre (Rameau's Les Indes galantes), and the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp (symphonic works and operas by Handel, Rameau, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn). With his own Apotheosis Orchestra, he has conducted Haydn's Schöpfung, the Brahms Requiem, Mendelssohn's Magnificat, and Fauré's Requiem. Growing up in a choral environment, he has also conducted larger works including the Requiems by Mozart, Duruflé, and Verdi, Orff's Carmina Burana, and a significant amount of contemporary repertoire. During his time with Anima Eterna, he rehearsed symphonic repertoire by Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Martinů, Enescu, and even Gershwin. With Christophe Rousset, he works on numerous 17th- and 18th-century opera productions, from Cavalli, Lully and Mouret to Handel, Cimarosa, Rameau, Mozart and Salieri. He has also assisted at B'Rock Orchestra, Flemish Radio Choir, Opera Lafayette Washington DC, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Vokalconsort Berlin, and cantoLX.
At the age of 27, he became Professor of Harpsichord at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, succeeding in the line of Kenneth Gilbert-Jos van Immerseel-Ewald Demeyere. He teaches on the famous original Dulcken 1747 harpsichord at the Museum Vleeshuis, where he is its titular harpsichordist and ambassador. On this magnificent instrument, he has recorded two solo CDs (label Ramée): 'Grand Tour' (Handel, Forqueray, Bach, Boutmy, Scarlatti, Rameau) and 'EnSuite' (Fiocco, C.P.E. Bach, Benda, Geminiani, Duphly), both of which won international prizes, including a 'Joker Absolu' of Crescendo, 'Choc de Classica' and the prestigious 'Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik'. Two solo Bach recordings have been added to the prestigious online 'All of Bach' series by The Netherlands Bach Society. Earlier, he released several chamber music CDs (label Et'cetera) with harpsichord concerti (Pièces de clavecin en concerts by Rameau, world-premiere Quartetti by Weckbacher) and French cantatas (Bernier with soprano Lieselot De Wilde), followed by an orchestral-operatic CD (label Ramée) featuring 'Pygmalion' by Rameau and Benda. His Rameau discs have been hailed as new reference recordings by the international press: "Korneel Bernolet is our new Rameau champion" (Classique News). He performs in duo with Christophe Rousset, for whom he recorded the second harpsichord part in Bach's Kunst der Fuge (label Aparté). In total, he can be heard on some 40 recordings with different groups, as a soloist and continuo player on harpsichord, pianoforte, and organ, including La Petite Bande, Il Gardellino, Transports Publics, Scherzi Musicali, The 1750 Project, BachPlus, and Mannheimer Hofkapelle. He also played, amongst others, at the core of the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées.
All these collaborations have brought him to venues such as Teatro alla Scala Milano, Vienna State Opera, Theater an der Wien, La Monnaie Brussels, Opéra National du Rhin Nancy, Rudolfinum Prague, Flemish Opera, Opéra Comique Paris, Valenciana Temple Guanajuato Mexico, the Philharmonies of Paris, Cologne, and Essen, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, all major concert halls in Belgium, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Kennedy Center Washington DC. He has also performed at festivals and recital venues such as Bach Academy Bruges, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Wunderkammer Trieste, the Canberra International Music Festival (as the main festival star in 2019), Cambridge University, Sydney University, Incheon National University, Château de Chantilly, Kasteel van Poeke, Eszterháza Palace in Fertöd, and Château de Versailles, among others. Bernolet has worked with students and taught masterclasses at institutions such as Juilliard School in New York, Vilnius, Manchester, Namur, Antwerp, Ghent, Sydney, and Aix-en-Provence.
Korneel studied historical keyboard instruments with Paul Clement, Ewald Demeyere, Piet Kuijken, Gustav Leonhardt, Jesper Christensen and Christophe Rousset; conducting with Geert Hendrix and Luc Anthonis, and through masterclasses with Georg Grün, Daan Admiraal, and numerous assistantships; and composition with Wim Henderickx. He earned Master’s degrees in both harpsichord and conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp with stellar marks. He started teaching there during his final year of study and currently presides over the Historically Informed Performance Practice program, conducting projects with various ensembles while also coaching the conducting students. For many years, he taught and conducted at the International Opera Academy Ghent while also doing PhD research at Antwerp University. He teaches a yearly summer masterclass at Museum Vleeshuis in Antwerp, where he co-curates the Antwerp City of Harpsichords concert series.
www.korneel.bernolet.com