Bernard de Launoit

Bernard de Launoit was an accomplished mountaineer and an essential cultural figure in the fields of audiovisual production, the art market, and classical music.

As an audiovisual producer, he co-founded two production companies with Henri de Gerlache and Christopher Thompson: Alizé Production (Brussels) and Arctic Productions (Paris). Over 25 years, he produced more than 60 documentaries, including the largest filmed Everest expedition in 2003 and the first installment of the Solar Impulse solar airplane adventure. He also co-produced the film « Fauteuils d’Orchestre » and won a Magritte award for Best First Film in 2014 for «Une Chanson pour ma mère » directed by Joël Franka. In 2017, the documentary film « La Belge histoire de Cannes »
directed by Henri de Gerlache and co-produced by Bernard de Launoit was selected for the Cannes Film Festival.

Through his expeditions from 1997 to 2003, he founded « Belgium To The Tops » aiming to climb the highest peaks on each continent (Vinson – 5140m, Aconcagua – 6995m, Kilimanjaro – 5995m, Elbrus – 5642m, Denali – 6190m, Mt Cook – 3724m, and Everest – 8848m). This journey also led him to
become one of the rescuers of « Exploration du Monde », a Belgian organization dedicated to
adventurers and explorers through a cycle of film-lectures.

His career in the art market began in the 1990s when he worked at Isy Brachot Gallery in Brussels and Paris, specializing in Belgian surrealist painting. From 1994 to 1999, he served as Managing Director of Christie’s Belgium. He was later one of the co-founders and Vice President of the Magritte Foundation, which played a key role in creating the Magritte Museum in 2009 in partnership with the
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

In music, Bernard de Launoit was a key player in the revival of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, becoming its CEO in 2004. He also organized cultural events such as concerts, international music tours, and musical cruises. He was President of the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, Music
Fund, and the Equinox Choirs. He co-organized the opening concert for Belgium’s EU Presidency at the Château de Laeken and was also co-organizer and Artistic Director of « Les Musicales de Beloeil » and « Les Symphoniques de La Hulpe ». In 2013, he was appointed Director of the Queen Elisabeth
Competition, and in 2015, he became Chairman of the Board of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, a non-profit organization.