Frank Agsteribbe (1968) is a Belgian conductor, harpsichordist, and composer, always searching for direct expression and colorful music making. His repertoire reaches from the 16th century till the music of our time, including opera, vocal and instrumental baroque music, and various contemporary art forms. Having studied the harpsichord and organ with distinguished teachers as Jos Van Immerseel, Gustav Leonhardt, Davitt Moroney and Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Frank Agsteribbe was invited to join famous baroque ensembles like La Petite Bande, Collegium Vocale, Huelgas Ensemble, Anima Eterna, and Concerto Köln, with whom he performed worldwide.
In 2005, Frank Agsteribbe, together with bass player Tom Devaere, founded the new, young and dynamic Flemish baroque orchestra B’Rock, which played successful concerts on various European stages. He leads B’Rock regularly in both baroque (Haendel, Vivaldi) and new music (Cage, Pärt). Frank Agsteribbe’s most recent CD is devoted to keyboard music by the young Haydn, recorded on the Richard Dott organ in Illzach, Alsace, France.
As an opera conductor, his repertoire starts with the earliest baroque operas as La Dafne by Marco da Gagliano (1608), over L’Orontea by Marc’Antonio Cesti, Dido and Aeneas by Purcell, includes Mozart’s Zauberflöte, Bertoni’s Orfeo (1776) and Rossini’s Italiana in Algeri, romantic opera as Puccini’s La Bohème, and goes well into the 20th century with The Rake’s Progress by Stravinsky, Jenufa by Janacek, Le Vin Herbé by Frank Martin, and Giorgio Battistelli’s Prova d’Orchestra. He has worked at the Vlaamse Opera (Antwerp-Gent), the Ruhrtriennale (Germany), Castleward Opera in Belfast, Teatro Sao Carlos Lisbon, and Le Grand Théâtre Luxembourg.
In Dartington (UK) he conducted works by Mahler (Symphony 4), Britten (Spring Symphony), Schoenberg, Haydn (Nelson Mass), Puccini (La Boheme), Beethoven (symphonies 5 and 6) and Brahms (symphony 1). In August 2006 he conducted the English première of Robert Levins new edition of the Mozart c-minor Mass K 427, during the Dartington International Summer School.
Frank Agsteribbe is currently principal guest conductor with the Luxemburg based chamber choir of the INECC.
Frank Agsteribbe has written more than 80 compositions, most of them commissioned by e.g. the Flemish classical radio, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, music theatre company Transparant, November Music. More than 40 compositions have been recorded by the radio or are available on CD. His composition Et nova sunt semper, written for the European Radio Union, has been broadcasted throughout Europe, Canada and the United States.
Frank Agsteribbe is a professor at the Antwerp Conservatory, where he teaches music analysis, and conducts various ensembles. |
