The first edition of the Charles Hennen Concours, international chamber music competition for strings, took place on 16 March 1986.
From the start, the organisation of the concours had a broad network of international contacts and an international renowned jury, under chairmanship of Theo Olof, at their disposal.
Due to the collaboration in the beginning with Christian Timm a close relationship between the Charles Hennen Concours and the also recently founded Stichting Jong Muziektalent Nederland (SJMN) was realised.
Since 1992 the Charles Hennen Concours is a member of the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY)
Already since the first edition the concours can welcome a broad international field of participants in Heerlen.
