Jan Steenbrugge

Born in Ghent in 1977, Jan Steenbrugge started plying the violin at age 4 1/2. At the age of 13, he became a member of the Flanders Youth Orchestra under the direction of Robert Groslot and also a member of the Belgian Youth Philharmonic. From 1995 to 1999, he studied four years at the Boston Conservatory with Zinaida Gilels and was awarded a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance Magna Cum Laude.
Back in Belgium, he continued his studies and obtained his Master Degree in Violin Performance (prof. Sebestyen) and a Master Degree in Orchestral Conducting (prof. Van den Broeck), both from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He followed numerous Master-classes, most notably with Zakhar Bron and Godfried Schneider for violin and Bernard Haitink, Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstam for conducting.
Many orchestras have benefited from his talent as a conductor including the Flemish Radio Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, Luzern Symphonie Orchestre and of course the Bruocsella Symphony Orchestra, of which he has been the principal conductor since June 2002.