Robert Janssens

Robert Janssens (born 1939) is a Belgian composer and conductor. He is a French-speaking member of the Union of Belgian Composers, one of whose essential missions is "to disseminate the orchestral production of our compositions".

Janssens studied at the Royal Conservatory of Liège and Brussels.[1] He initially taught at the École Normale in Brussels. He later became Professor of Orchestra Conducting at the Brussels Conservatory and Director of the Brussels Academy of Music and the Conservatoire royal de Mons. He is the founder and president of the Brussels Summer Festival, which regularly presents works by contemporary Belgian composers.

Janssens mainly composed works for large orchestra, including a piano and cello concerto and the ballet Yerma, premiered by the Ballet royal de Wallonie, but also piano works and several string quartets. Among his religious works, the Mass of the artistes is particularly noteworthy, as is the Requiem, which was celebrated with standing ovations at its premiere in Brussels in 2004.

He is the permanent conductor of the Ensemble symphonique de Bruxelles.