Eduard van Remoortel,
Music Director 1958-1962

Eduard van Remoortel was appointed music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1958. Considered a public relations coup in its day, the appointment of the young and dashing Belgian was greeted as the start of a new era in popularity for the orchestra. Van Remoortel was trained as both a conductor and 'cellist at the Conservatory of Brussels. He was awarded the Order of King Leopold II of Belgium in 1960. Although his directorship was highly anticipated and his preliminary appearances with the orchestra were favorable, van Remoortel's fanatical dedication to memorization of the score, musical inexperience at such a major post, and personal inability to get along with a majority of the orchestra led to a turbulent four seasons. Frequent conflicts and threats of terminating members of the orchestra led to a public image of constant disputes. Once, in his first season, the orchestra even voted not to play for van Remoortel to protest of his attempted firing of 42 musicians. Still, this period saw a rise in the orchestra's overall quality and visits by the premier artists and guest conductors of the day. Van Remoortel's tenure fizzled to an end in the 1961-62 season as he was only engaged to conduct a less-than-customary seven concerts.