The Conservatoire offers Bachelors and Masters courses in baroque violin, within the department of Early Music. The Bachelors course consists of three years, while the Masters lasts two years.
The Bachelor course focuses on learning specific historical techniques : position and posture, different bowing techniques according to the repertoire at hand, seraching for different sounds, diction.
Students participate in regular meetings with instrument-builders and bow-makers with the aim of also acquiring an understanding of how the instrument works: the differente adjustments and construction models, the choice of wood, and how these directly influence the sound and technique of playing.
The course in connection with the classes in applied theory taught within the Early Music department. The training also includes classes in reading, transposition, theory and writing.
Alongside the weekly group and individual, instrumental and chamber music classes, each year students also participate in the colloquia, concerts, seminars, orchestra sessions, and conferences organised by the department.
Students can then build on this solid foundation during the Masters programme, allowing them to further develop their specific approach to their instrumental and artistic work. Here, a significant emphasis is on string instruments from the same family, in the past also traditionally played by violinists: viola, viola d'amore, violino piccolo. Different types of instruments are made available for students.
Students also continue to explore the extensive repertoire of the instrument (from 1650 to 1800) in order to develop the many facets necessary to be a "baroque" violinist, at once fulfilling the roles of dance master, virtuosic solist, consort player or improviser. This culminates in the realisation of a personal artistic project at the end of their studies, accompanied by an in-depth research project.
During this second cycle, or masters programme, chamber music grows in importance, and students are encouraged to develop links to the professional world (concerts, recordings...). Students regularly take part in ambitious projects, thanks to the artistic partnerships of the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles.