European Diary: An air of despondency hangs over the Beethoven Academy's rehearsal. The 40 musicians, who work in one of Belgium's few surviving chamber orchestras, are trying their best to put the finishing touches to their latest project, Tower High Encounters, a blend of classical music, ethnic instruments and church bells.
But it is clear that a funding crisis, which threatens each musician with redundancy and a professional life outside of classical music, is taking a heavy toll.
"I'm lighting a candle every day hoping and praying something will happen that can keep us going," says Gudron Vercampt, lead violinist at the academy. "I've played with the academy for the past 16 years and I don't know what I will do if it closes I may have to teach again."
The chamber orchestra's future has been put in doubt because of a decision by the Flemish government to cut funding to the Beethoven Academy. The loss of the public subsidy will cost the orchestra €1.15 million, or two thirds of its annual budget.
"We will have to stop playing by the end of October so we can pay redundancy to our 10 full-time musicians," says Bart Michiels, manager of the Beethoven Academy. "The 50 or so freelance musicians will get nothing, even though they have agreed to concert dates for much of next year and turned down other work."
Desperate times require desperate measures and last month Mr Michiels put the orchestra up for sale on the online auction site eBay. With 75 concerts booked up over the next season the Beethoven Academy needs at least €1 million to keep going.
"It was a bit of a media stunt but we also wanted to see if we could attract some sponsors, perhaps a multi-millionaire with a love of music," says Mr Michiels.
By the start of last week, the orchestra had attracted a bid of €100,000 when Mr Michiels cancelled the auction for "moral and judicial reasons". eBay Belgium told local media that while it was common for people to sell services using the website, it is illegal to buy or sell people, even if they are part of a chamber orchestra.
Based in the Flemish city of Mechelen, the Beethoven Academy was founded in 1993 by conductor Jan Caeyers.
It performs late-classical and early romantic pieces of music with a chamber orchestra modelled on the one that Beethoven used for his Third Symphony, the Eroica. The orchestra is due to release its first CD, Symphonies by Charles Gounod, later this year if it manages to stay in business.
But the advisory committee for the Flemish minister for culture, Bert Anciaux, found last month that the Beethoven Academy had been mismanaged and lacked the requisite quality to receive funding. It also cut funding to another Flemish chamber orchestra, Prima La Musica, which will close.
"The minister followed the advice of the commission, which found that for four to five years the orchestra had been mismanaged and did not reach the best quality," says Stefaan De Ruyck, the minister's adviser in the field of classical music.
"The Beethoven Academy did appoint a new manager and artistic director earlier this year but it was a case of too little, too late. No one believed they could change."
Mr De Ruyck defends the Flemish government's funding for classical music, which will reach €23 million in 2007 and fund 38 organisations. He also says there is a sufficient number of chamber orchestras in Flanders, with six currently playing music.
This is dismissed by Mr Michiels, who says only three true chamber orchestras are left. He blames the minister's concentration on funding "bricks and mortar" for the cut in funding.
"Mr Anciaux is investing large amounts of money in institutions and buildings he is investing more in stones than people and music. It isn't right."
The eBay auction and media interest have attracted some offers. For example, the €100,000 bid for the orchestra was made by a well-meaning entrepreneur and Mr Michiels says he is talking to him about sponsorship. But with the threat of closure getting closer, the musicians of the Beethoven Academy are praying for a miracle.
"We are all in a spirit of mourning but we don't want to give up hope that we can continue," Ms Vercampt says during a break in the rehearsal.
"I think the biggest loss will be for the young people graduating from schools of music. There are just so few orchestras left where they can gain experience and hope for a life playing music."