About us

Synchestra is a Belgian company, and was founded in 2021, after several years of preparatory work. We are not an ordinary commercial company. Synchestra arose from a passion for music and the wish to give every musician the feeling to play together with a real orchestra.

Our mission, vision and values

Our mission

Synchestra wants every musician to experience the immense joy of playing a piece of music with an orchestra.

Our Vision

Synchestra is not a typical commercial company.

Musical joy is what drives Synchestra, money is not our motivation. The value of Synchestra is the sum of the joyful moments experienced by its Community members. Business decisions are always made with the aim of optimizing the musical experience and ensuring the economic stability of the company.

We want to make a profit, but only to keep our company sustainable and financially healthy. As we grow, these profits are reinvested in the company (not distributed to shareholders), to improve the app and expand our portfolio. This means you not only get access to an ever-growing repertoire, but also enjoy an increasingly rich experience.

The wealth of our company is not the amount on the bottom line of the annual report, but the total amount of joy felt by our musicians when playing beautiful music with our app.

Our values

Joy, fairness, integrity, perseverance, respect.

Read more here our vision and values.

The team

The team behind Synchestra consists largely of dedicated musicians, many of whom are also engineers, computer scientists, economists, or marketing specialists, all united by the same passion for music.

• The core team are the Chief Musical Officer (who is also the CEO and Principal Founder), the Lead Audio Developer and the Deputy CEO. They are responsible for app development, financial management, and for coordinating and inspiring the partner and contributor team, and financial management.
• The partner team are five enthusiasts who contribute in terms of musical know-how, ICT, UX and UI design, web development, marketing.
• The team of contributors are more than 30 musicians who write scores, proofread them, and transform them into beautiful orchestrations, and are part of our Community.

The Community

Playing together with an orchestra is magical. We believe that this musical experience should not be the exclusive privilege of the most talented musicians.

Playing together with an orchestra should be something that every musician should be able to experience. That is why Synchestra wants to be first and foremost a Community, a meeting place for musicians with a common passion. For musicians who work hard for months to be able to perform that breathtaking aria, that grandiose concerto, that matchless choral work and turn it into an unforgettable goosebump moment.

Our history

How it started

In September 2003, Robrecht Paternoster, an engineer with a passion for music, embarked on an ambitious project: perform Camille Saint-Saëns' majestic Symphony for Orchestra and Organ. A contract was signed with the Brussels Youth and Music Orchestra to bring "Saint-Saëns for the Youth" to life but faced a significant setback: the intricate orchestral scores proved too challenging for the young musicians, leading to the concert’s cancellation. Robrecht’s dream performance was suddenly out of reach, but he was dedicated to reach his dream performance.

In early 2004, Robrecht crafted a "Music Minus One" version of a commercial recording of the symphony, adjusting the pitch to account for the natural variance of the organ caused by temperature changes. On April 12, 2004, the concert finally took place in the magnificent Brussels Cathedral, where he played the new Grenzing Organ alongside a digital orchestra.

First versions

Robrecht realized that the opportunity to perform great works with an orchestra shouldn’t be limited to just a few. He wanted to build something that anyone could enjoy, just like a world-class soloist does. And so, the idea for Synchestra was born, an app that allows musicians to play together with a digital orchestra, tailored specifically to their instrument, tempo, tuning, and even their position within the ensemble.

Over the years, technical advancements reshaped the music world, from powerful music notation programs to state-of-the-art virtual instruments. In November 2019, Robrecht successfully demonstrated the proof of concept of the future app to Daniel Blumenthal, Head of the Piano Department at the Brussels Conservatory (and laureate at the 1983 International Queen Elisabeth Music Competition), receiving warm encouragements.

From hobby to Start-up with public endorsement

The founding of Synchestra company came in October 2021, soon followed by the recruitment of our first app developer. In November 2021, we joined the Start it @KBC incubator, alongside 65 other entrepreneurs, selected from over 220 candidates. The financial support we've received from the Flemish Government for our research and development efforts from 2022 to 2024 has been instrumental in our growth. This backing not only validates the potential of our project but also proves the strong confidence in Synchestra’s commercial and technological success.

Today, we are proud to have a dedicated team of 3 employees and over 30 global contributors, all working to create a transformative musical experience for classical musicians everywhere.