B'Rock, also known as the B'Rock Orchestra (and pronounced BEE-rock), was established in the Belgian city of Ghent in 2005. The founders were harpsichordist Frank Agsteribbe, double bassist Tom Devaere, and managers Hendrik Storme and Tomas Bisschop. The intent of the group was to bring greater immediacy to early music, to offer, in the words of the group's website, "theatrical expression in sound." B'Rock gave its first concert in September 2005 at the De Bijloke hall in Ghent and succeeded from the beginning. The group has no permanent conductor but features guest conductors where necessary, as well as a varied roster of guest soloists and choirs in its roughly 45 concerts annually. B'Rock began to develop cross-genre collaborations early in its existence, and several of these, including one with the Royal Opera De Munt/La Monnaie in Brussels and one with the Rouen Opera in France, have evolved into ongoing partnerships. The group's own concerts often feature themes (such as, in 2020, "Life and Death") rather than simply listings of pieces, and often new music written for the medium of a historical-instrument chamber orchestra. B'Rock has appeared in major concert venues, including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the BBC Proms, and the Park Avenue Armory in New York.
B'Rock made its recording debut in 2011 on the EtCetera label with the album Antonio Vivaldi, John Cage: 8 Seasons. The group released several more albums on EtCetera and moved to PentaTone in 2018, issuing the first in a complete cycle of the symphonies of Schubert. The second volume in that series, including the Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, D. 125, and Symphony No. 3 in D major, D. 200, appeared in 2020. ~ James Manheim, Rovi