HOP: A collective of musicians
"HOP" is the name of a collective of musicians from the OPRL who organise chamber music concerts, educational initiatives and various small group projects to bring music closer to all audiences.
ASBL HOP, which stands for "Happy Original Production", is a project developed and run by musicians from the OPRL: there are now around ten players involved in bringing this independent structure to life, applying great creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit with a great deal of enthusiasm;
There are three activities are being developed in close collaboration with OPRL:
- Public concerts (Happy Hour!, Musique à midi, etc.) and associated masterclasses
- Education (PédaHOP)
- HOPprod : audiovisual productions, concerts, artistic support for the activities of the Friends of the Orchestra...
Contact :
Email : hop@oprl.be
www.facebook.com/hopasbl
With the support of OPRL and Les Amis de l’Orchestre
Chamber music concerts
The "Happy Hour!" and "Musique à midi" series (10 concerts in all) are programmed and organised by HOP. This includes 6 low-price concerts on Tuesdays at 7pm, where OPRL musicians share their more personal musical projects, classical or otherwise, and 4 free concerts on Wednesdays at 12.30pm, in the Foyer Ysaye, presenting the best in classical chamber music.
In 24-25, around thirty musicians from the Orchestra will be taking part in these concerts. The HOP collective is proud to have already involved 78% of the Orchestra's current workforce in these projects since 2016.
Happy Hour !
Happy Hour! in guest star mode: a special guest for each concert!
In its eighth season, Happy Hour! invites the public to discover six "star" guests, performing with the Orchestra's musicians at six varied concerts. Whether clarinettist (Nicolas Baldeyrou), trumpet player (Jeroen Berwaerts), harpist (Tjasha Gafner), oboist (Philippe Tondre), singer (Céline Scheen) or pianist (Johan Dupont), their participation has inspired original programmes featuring Vivaldi and jazz, Connesson and Mozart, Gabrieli and Ravel.
ALL THE Happy Hour ! CONCERTS IN 24-25
Musique à midi
Four lunchtime escapes, an hour of free chamber music in the company of OPRL musicians.
The "Musique à Midi" series offers an intimate classical music experience. Concerts in 24-25 bring together the Orchestra's "families": wind quintet, string trio, double bass quartet, and an annual "Les petits nouveaux" concert, which gives an opportunity to discover the latest talent to join the OPRL.
ALL Musique à Midi CONCERTS IN 24-25
NEW in 24-25: three masterclasses open to the public!
Something new at the Salle Philharmonique!
The HOP collective and the OPRL are organising three masterclasses during the 2024-2025 season. They are an opportunity for young people from our conservatoires to perfect their instrumental learning with three of today's leading artists:
- Nicolas Baldeyrou, clarinettist, on Monday 28 October 2024 (with the support of Buffet Crampon and Vandoren Paris)
- Jeroen Berwaerts, trumpeter, on Sunday 1 December 2024
- Philippe Tondre, oboist, on Monday 10 February 2025
During the masterclasses, 8 students will each benefit from 45 minutes of advice from these musical personalities. The sessions are public and open to all.
Would you like to attend a masterclass as a spectator?
- Price : 5 €
BOOK Nicolas Baldeyrou MASTERCLASS (28/10)
PédaHOP: Sharing music at home with musicians
With the support of the OPRL's education department, HOP forms chamber music ensembles to bring the music to the public, with the "PédaHOP" project. The aim is to offer connection points between the Orchestra and audiences who are inaccessible or who do not have the opportunity to hear performances at the Salle Philharmonique de Liège.
Small groups have been formed on a voluntary basis within the Orchestra; they visit schools, nursing homes, hospitals, etc. and offer a fun and interactive discovery of music and instruments, with a specially prepared programme designed for this project. Teachers and nursing staff tell us how fortunate the partcipants are to have these experiences, to get to know the world of instrumental music, to see and hear the instruments up close and sometimes even touch them... It's an enriching experience for the musicians too, and an initiative that strengthens the OPRL's presence with all kinds of audiences (50 sessions in 23-24!).
HOPprod
HOP also devotes part of its activity to producing videos presenting the musicians and an in-house newsletter, and exports its musical projects to outside organisers as true ambassadors for the Orchestra.
The Carnival of the Animals, an exceptional show
Created in 2023 at the Salle Philharmonique, revived in March 2024 in Brussels, and soon in Charleroi: the HOP collective collaborates with Luc Petit's Nocturnales.
The Carnival of the Animals, performed over 10 days in March 2023, brought a spectacular new dimension to the collaboration between HOP and the OPRL, this time working with Luc Petit and Bruno Coppens.
The combination of the Orchestra (10 musicians from the OPRL's HOP) and the stage direction of Luc Petit (Les Nocturnales) transformed the Salle Philharmonique into a theatre where the latest technologies (mapping, 3D projection, a giant moving mirror), dance, a new script from Bruno Coppens and dazzling costumes gave birth to an entirely new creation, between music and theatre, which amazed young and old alike.
This project, which had 19 performances in Liège in 2023, was revived in March 2024 at the Cirque Royal in Brussels.
Two new dates have been announced at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi on 2 and 3 November 2024;