Dutch And Belgian Royals Attended EU Opening Concert

On the occasion of the start of the Dutch Presidency of the European Union, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium along with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands attended the official opening concert on Friday 22nd January 2016.

The concert was held at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels and was performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The Orchestra was led by the Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt. They played compositions by Wagner Prelude and Liebestod from "Tristan und Isolde", "Poesis" by Ingvar Lidholm and "Symphony No. 9" by Antonin Dvořák.

Present at the concert also were the Dutch Ambassador to Belgium, Maryem van den Heuvel, the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the EU Pieter de Gooijer, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders and representatives from the European institutions. On January 1st began the Dutch Presidency of the European Union that will last for six months.