With its sixty musicians, the Symphony Orchestra Flanders is the smallest of Belgium's major orchestras. Its repertoire ranges from classicism to contemporary music. The programmes of the Symphony Orchestra Flanders are notable for their great diversity and originality. Apart from the great symphonic repertoire, the orchestra also brings little-known works to the attention of the audience, particularly of the nineteenth and twentieth century. The orchestra also pursues an active commission policy, contributing to the accomplishment and the development of a contemporary repertoire. Every year one Flemish composer is commissioned to write a composition. The Symphony Orchestra Flanders has a number of operating bases throughout Flanders, where it gives a series of concerts every season: Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent. Chief conductor of the orchestra is Seikyo Kim. David Angus is its honorary conductor.

The Flanders Symphony Orchestra (FSO) has been a fixed value in the Flemish cultural landscape for sixty years. Composed of sixty highly committed and passionate musicians, and led by renowned conductors, The Flanders Symphony Orchestra both commissions and performs new compositions of contemporary music as well as electrifying renditions of the main symphonic repertoire from the classical period onwards.

The Flanders Symphony Orchestra fulfills an exemplary role in creating opportunities for young and talented musicians, composers, soloists and conductors. In addition, the Orchestra makes music from both past and present accessible to as wide and diverse an audience as possible in Flanders and beyond.

The orchestra was founded in 1960 by Dirk Varendonck, also the orchestra’s first conductor. From 1986 onwards the orchestra was conducted by Patrick Peire, Robert Groslot and Fabrice Bollon. The orchestra went through a thorough reformation in the mid-1990s. Principal conductors have included David Angus, Etienne Siebens, Seikyo Kim and Jan Latham-Koenig. As from the concert season 2019-20, the Estionan Kristiina Poska is the new chief conductor of the Flanders Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to the concert series in Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent, the Flanders Symphony Orchestra is a welcome guest at both national and international venues.