Marcel De Cauwer
Marcel De Cauwer started as an 11-year old to learn to play the banjo from Robert Janssens in the municipal boy's school of the Brasschaat-Centrum. He became a member of the school orchestra and exchanged his banjo soon for a much better Embergher mandolin. He played the 1st mandolin In the young BMO - from 1955 until 1962. From 1959 he also started to take to the guitar, first self-taught, later with private lessons from Robert Janssens.
In september 1962 he succeeded his teacher as chairman and conductor of the BMO. Marcel's firm understanding of both mandolin and guitar has doubtlessly contributed a great deal for Robert Janssens in his choice of successor.
After his studies as a teacher, Marcel was given the opportunity to teach musical education and art history (esthetics) in secondary school: his hobbies effectively became part of his profession. During his carreer in school he was also part of Jeugd en Muziek ('Youth and Music') for more than 20 years, for example for the organization of numerous school concerts, an exhilerating task that has brought him in contact with several professional musicians and broadened his view on music.
By further self-study and a growing interest for chords and harmony, as practised on the mandolin and guitar, Marcel also started making his first transciptions and arrangements with which he extended the repertory of the BMO (some classical pieces and numerous popular pieces, for example Greek melodies who would start to become part of the musical heritage of the orchestra).
Together with some other people who were commited strongly to the mandolin, Marcel has always pleaded for recognition and extention of the mandolin courses at the music academies and conservatoria. He's a regular member of the jury at the public examinations of mandolin and mandolin ensemble in the academies that have mandolin courses (Brasschaat, Merksem, Wijnegem and Lier).