Once again, June at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp was entirely devoted to artistic performances on the stage. Throughout the month, 77 concerts, final performances and public examinations took place. Together, they attracted at least 5,811 audience members to the concert halls. In addition, a further 6,048 viewers watched the public classical music examinations on YouTube.
Behind those figures lies a year of intensive rehearsals, creativity and personal growth. Each student concluded the academic year with an artistic presentation before a jury, and often before an audience as well. Music students do this during their final year of their Bachelor’s degree and during their Master’s, drama students from their second year of their Bachelor’s degree onwards, and dance students with a public final performance.
Drama
This year, the Master’s Festival Drama once again brought together the final-year performances of the Master’s students and welcomed 1,326 audience members. In addition, the Bachelor’s students presented their own artistic projects. Taken together, all the end-of-year presentations attracted 2,293 visitors.
From text and performance to music and beyond: the performances reflected the broad artistic praxis that the students develop during their programme.
Dance
The dance students rounded off the academic year with powerful final performances. The Bachelor Dance Summer Performances were once again particularly popular, attracting 530 visitors over three evenings. The Master’s students also presented their final projects to an audience of 138 spectators.
Music
The music students were in the spotlight throughout the month. The public examinations of jazz and classical music attracted a combined total of at least 2,850 visitors: 1,098 for jazz and at least 1,752 for classical music.
Those unable to attend in person could watch the public classical music examinations on YouTube. This attracted 6,048 online viewers, enabling family, friends and interested parties from far beyond Antwerp to experience the students’ performances.
It should be noted, however, that the attendance figures for the public classical music examinations are an underestimate of the actual numbers. As these examinations are open to the public and bookings are not required everywhere, the figures are partly based on estimates, and records are still missing for some instruments.
The students’ performances were viewed more than 11,800 times this academic year, either in the concert hall or online. A fitting conclusion to an academic year in which talent, craftsmanship and artistic development took centre stage.
Foto: Dries Renglé - Proclamatie 2026