Bart Vandenbogaerde
1st concertmaster
Bart Vandenbogaerde was born in Belgium and had his first violin lessons at the age of five. He began his studies under Rudolf Werthen, and completed them under Kees Hülsmann in Utrecht. He was trained in the tradition of the Belgian violin school of Vieuxtemps and Ysaÿe, characterized by technical virtuosity, elegance and a full tone. He has given solo and chamber concerts throughout Europe, in North and South America, Australia, Asia and the Near East, performing violin concertos by Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, de Bériot, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Paganini, Vieuxtemps, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Korngold, Bruch, Sibelius, Dvořák, Shostakovich and Rihm.
He has worked with such conductors as Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Jonathan Nott, Kurt Masur, Valery Gergiev, Jaap van Zweden and many others. He was still a student when he was appointed Deputy First Concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. This was followed in 2011 by a two-year engagement as First Guest Concertmaster of the Amsterdam Radio Orchestra. Alongside this, he was appointed First Concertmaster by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Bart Vandenbogaerde has been First Concertmaster of the Bamberg Symphony since 2013. He plays a Guarneri del Gesù from 1742.