Opening concert

Graindelavoix
Teodora Tommasi
Florencia Menconi
Andrew Hallock
Albert Riera
Marius Peterson
Tomàs Maxé
Arnout Malfliet
Björn Schmelzer / artistic direction

Programme:
Guillaume de Machaut
Sanctus (Messe de Nostre Dame)

Solage
Fumeux fume

Matteo da Perugia
Hélas Avril

Mattheus de Sancto Johanne
Science na nul annemi

Guillaume de Machaut
Agnus Dei (Messe de Nostre Dame)

Phillipot de Caserta
Espoir dont tu m’a fayt partir

Johannes Ciconia
Le ray au soleyl

Galiot (Giangaleazzo Visconti?)
En atendant d’amer

Jean Hanelle
Hodie puer nascitur/Homo Mortalis

Contre Nature
The concerts of Graindelavoix are always adventures and time travel, rock’n roll and archaic ritual at the same time. The ensemble and its director Björn Schmelzer understand the late Middle Ages as a highly modern era. The Belgian chamber choir dedicates itself to the untapped treasures of a musical epoch that seems both infinitely distant and very close, with unearthly perfect harmony and highly individual voices. Guillaume de Machaut is still the best known of these masters of early polyphony, whose almost »unnatural« rhythmic and harmonic experiments opened the gates of music history wide open.

Het Collectief
Thomas Dieltjens / piano
Martijn Vink / cello

Lore Binon / soprano

Programme:

Jean-Luc Fafchamps
Les amours de madame Tchabaï

Luciano Berio
Les mots sont allés

Georg Crumb
Apparition, Elegiac songs and vocalises

Leoš Janáček
Pohádka / Fairy Tale

Dmitrij Šostakovič
Ofelia Song (from: 7 romances on the poems by Alexander Blok, Op. 127)

Leoš Janáček
V mhách / In the mist

Les amours de Mme Tchabaï
In a story by the Turkish poet and writer Nazim Hikmet, a certain doctor Littman is staring at a heart in a jar. He tries to imagine the amorous life of the owner of the heart, Madame Tchabai, and starts to hum some love songs. Jean-Luc Fafchamps set this bizarre daydream to music and added his own favorite songs to a cycle for mezzo-soprano, cello and piano. These ingenious adaptations of well-known and lesser-known chansons are interspersed with gems from the twentieth century repertoire.

Graindelavoix
Andrew Hallock
Albert Riera
Marius Peterson
Arnout Malfliet
Björn Schmelzer / artistic direction

Programme:
Gilles Binchois
Agnus Dei

Johannes Ockeghem
Mort tu as navré / Déploration sur la mort de Binchois
Alma Redemptoris mater

Josquin Desprez
O admirabile commercium
Quando natus est

Jacob Obrecht
Salve regina

Josquin Desprez
Sanctus (Missa pange Lingua)

Loyset Compère
Verbum supernum / O salutaris hostia

Josquin Desprez
Agnus Dei (Missa Pange lingua)

From Binchois to Josquin: a polyphonic genealogy of the franco-flamands
The concerts of Graindelavoix are always adventures and time travel, rock’n roll and archaic ritual at the same time. The ensemble and its director Björn Schmelzer understand the late Middle Ages as a highly modern era. The Belgian chamber choir dedicates itself to the untapped treasures of a musical epoch that seems both infinitely distant and very close, with unearthly perfect harmony and highly individual voices. Guillaume de Machaut is still the best known of these masters of early polyphony, whose almost »unnatural« rhythmic and harmonic experiments opened the gates of music history wide open.

Cappella Mariana
Hana Blažíková / soprano
Daniela Čermáková / alt
Vojtěch Semerád, Tomáš Lajtkep, Ondřej Holub / tenor
Jaromír Nosek / bass

Vojtěch Semerád / artistic direction

Programme:
Heinrich Issac – Missa „Chargé de deul“
Kyrie, Gloria

Johannes Tourout
O gloriosa regina mundi
O florens rosa

Johannes Tourout – Missa ‘sine Kyrie’
Credo

Anonymous – Ave Maria-Ave ancilla

Johannes Tourout – Virgo restauratrix

Johannes Tourout – Missa ‘sine Kyrie’
Sanctus

Gaspar van Weerbeke – O lumen

Johannes Tourout
O castitatis lilium
O generosa nata David

Anonymous – Michael praepositus

Anonymous – O Altissime

Johannes Ghiselin – O gloriosa domina

Gaspar van Weerbeke – Salus eterna

Johannes Tourout – Nova instant cantica

The mirror of Johannes Tourout / Flemish polyphony in Renaissance Bohemia
Cappella Mariana and its artistic director Vojtěch Semerád continue to explore the musical culture of Central Europe in the 15th and early 16th centuries. What is the connection of the featured composers with our territory in the Renaissance period? We can only guess, their lives are still shrouded in mystery, but the frequency of references to their compositions in important manuscripts of Central Europe (Codex Strahov, Codex Speciálník) suggests that they were highly respected composers of their time. The programme is supplemented by anonymous works from Central European sources, which may represent examples of local creative reception of the international polyphonic style.

Rýnský
Vojtěch Jakl / baroque violin
Elias Conrad / theorbo
Irene González Roldán / harpsichord

within the project: 

Programme:
Ignazio Albertini
Sonata V. in A major

Nicolaus à Kempis
Symphonia VI.

Domenico Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli
Sonata Sesta: La Sabbatina in C major

Domenico Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli
Sonata Terza: La Melana in D major

Ignazio Albertini
Sonata VI. in D major

Domenico Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli
Sonata Quinta: La Clemente in E minor

Nicolaus à Kempis
Symphonia II.

Ignazio Albertini
Sonata X. in E minor

Bound to Nothing
The Rýnský presents its popular mainstay repertoire – the sonatas of Ignazio Albertini – in the context of other works by important 17th-century composers associated with the Habsburg courts. The “murder” virtuoso Domenico Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli, based in Innsbruck, meets the tragically murdered Ignazio Albertini, who was composing in Vienna, while the enigmatic Nicolaus à Kempis observes from a safe distance in Brussels.
Beautiful preludes, passages of unbridled imagination and intricate fugues make up the sonatas of composers whose work flourished in an unstable post-war context full of doubt, hope and unusual artistic expressiveness. Rýnský seeks to bring out the distinctive taste of each composer by exploring their rhetorical devices, creative realization of the basso continuo, and giving space to the unrestrained violin parts in their works.

Sollazzo Ensemble
Carine Tinney / soprano
Jonatan Alvarado / tenor
Lior Leibovici / tenor
Christoph Sommer / lute
Filipa Meneses / vihuela de arco
Anna Danilevskaia / vihuela de arco, artistic direction

Leuven Chansonnier

The musicians of the young vocal-instrumental Sollazzo, the ensemble currently mesmerizing the international music world, will present a selection of the Leuven Chansonnier, the Flemish masterpiece from the late fifteenth century which contains a treasure trove of polyphonic music. When an old, unknown book was presented to the Alamire Foundation in 2015 for examination, the manuscript exceeded all expectations. It turned out to be a late fifteenth-century songbook containing a treasure trove of polyphonic music: forty-nine French chansons, preceded by Walter Frye’s religious motet Ave regina caelorum. The songs embody the pinnacle of fifteenth-century Franco-Flemish polyphony to French medieval lyrics, an exceptional discovery.
Johannes Ockeghem, Antoine Busnois, Firminus Caron, Walter Frye ad.

Tirbutina Ensemble
Ivana Bilej Brouková, Tereza Böhmová / soprano
Daniela Čermáková, Anna Chadimová Havlíková, Kamila Mazalová / alto
Barbora Kabátková / soprano, artistic direction

Lieve Blancquaert / photographs

Ecce femina
Story of Life

Word, image and song are united in a deeply human performance about the strength and vulnerability of women all over the world.

Birth, marriage, death: Lieve Blancquaert travelled the world with her camera to portray girls and women at special moments. Her gripping images tell of women’s strength and vulnerability, their suffering and resilience, their role as comforter, nurturer and mediator. Tiburtina Ensemble discovered the same themes in Gregorian chants, in folk songs from Moravia and in the codices Las Huelgas, Calixtinus and Speciálník. This creates a unique performance that combines word, image and song about deeply human emotions, at once unique and universal, drawn from the lives of millions of women around the world.

The concert makes part of

Les Violons de Bruxelles
Tcha Limberger / violin, vocals, artistic direction
Renaud Crols / violin
Alexandre Tripodi / viola
Samuel Gerstmans / double bass
Renaud Dardenne / guitar

Programme:

Alexandre Tripodi
Fantaisie

Renaud Dardenne
Carrousel
Djangofolies
Anselade

Tcha Limberger
Ombre et lumière
Irisha
Swing12012
Tcharanguito

Renaud Dardenne
Tourments

Tcha Limberger
Rosario Swing

Led by Tcha Limberger, the Violons De Bruxelles group brings together the finest strings that Belgium has to offer, and puts the accent not on the guitar but on three violins. This string quintet takes the traditional swing formula of the “Hot Club de France” but turns its codes inside out. The quintet is unrivalled in its performance of gypsy jazz, swing, songs (and related genres like the choro), resulting in melodies that merge jazz with chamber music while the violins blend sumptuous improvisations with classic arrangements and wild forays into gypsy and Latin music. They have a unique way of drawing material from its source to make it evolve into something else.

The 10th year of the popular and unique project combining music of various genres, cycling and exploring attractive tourist attractions and local gastronomy of the neighbouring regions of South Moravia and Lower Austria. It is suitable for all ages, admission to the concerts is free, and participants choose their own route according to their musical taste and physical fitness.
The programme, dates and detailed information can be found at www.hudbanakole.cz.

Les Violons de Bruxelles
Tcha Limberger / violin, vocals, artistic direction
Renaud Crols / violin
Alexandre Tripodi / viola
Samuel Gerstmans / double bass
Renaud Dardenne / guitar

Programme:

Alexandre Tripodi
Fantaisie

Renaud Dardenne
Carrousel
Djangofolies
Anselade

Tcha Limberger
Ombre et lumière
Irisha
Swing12012
Tcharanguito

Renaud Dardenne
Tourments

Tcha Limberger
Rosario Swing

Led by Tcha Limberger, the Violons De Bruxelles group brings together the finest strings that Belgium has to offer, and puts the accent not on the guitar but on three violins. This string quintet takes the traditional swing formula of the “Hot Club de France” but turns its codes inside out. The quintet is unrivalled in its performance of gypsy jazz, swing, songs (and related genres like the choro), resulting in melodies that merge jazz with chamber music while the violins blend sumptuous improvisations with classic arrangements and wild forays into gypsy and Latin music. They have a unique way of drawing material from its source to make it evolve into something else.

Thomas Baeté / viola da gamba

Programme:
Mr de Sainte-Colombe le père
Chaconne en ré mineur

Richartz de Berbesieu
Atressi com l’olifanz

Mr de Sainte- Colombe le fils
Prélude en Mi mineur

Philippe Hersant
Le Chemin de Jérusalem

Henry Purcell
O Solitude

Tobias Hume
Good againe

Catalan anonymous
Soleta so yo ací

Barbara (Monique Andrée Serf)
La Solitude

On Solitude

Using only his trusty viola da gamba and his voice, Thomas Baeté gives a personal take on the theme of solitude in music. Musicians in particular find themselves in a straddling position between the lonely hours of studying and being on the road and their need to engage in intense contact with audiences and fellow players. With music from Henry Purcell to French chansonnière Barbara, loneliness is embraced in a musical quest for connection. Michel de Montaigne, Friedrich Nietzsche or the young Australian poet Courtney Peppernel are also Thomas´s inspirations.

Utopia Ensemble
Michaela Riener / mezzosoprano
Bart Uvyn / countertenor
Adriaan De Koster / tenor
Lieven Termont / baritone
Guillaume Olry / bass
Jan Van Outryve / lute

Programme:
Tielman Susato
Mille regretz fera mon povre cueur

Thomas Crecquillon
Je suis aymé de la plus belle
Mort m’a privé

Nicolas Gombert
Triste départ

Tielman Susato
Mon Amy (Ronde)

Josquin Desprez
Mille regretz

Tielman Susato
Les miens aussi (Résponce à Mille regretz de Josquin)
Si de present peine j’endure
Salve quae roseo serto (prima pars)

Missa In illo tempore – Sanctus
Hoboecken dans (Ronde)

Jean Lecocq
Le bergier et la bergiere

Tielman Susato
O wrede fortune ghy

Jacobus Clemens
Een Venus schoon

Orlandus Lassus
Perch’io veggio
Madonna, mia pieta

Tielman Susato
Wo bistu (Ronde)
Ronde

Missa In illo tempore – Agnus Dei
Pere eternel (prière après le repas)

Salve Susato

The Utopia Ensemble presents a florilegium of works composed and/or published by one of the dazzling figures of Renaissance vocal music: Tielman Susato. He was one of the most significant music printers of the 16th century. Music printing had mainly been based in Italy, France, and Germany until Susato set up his press in Antwerp. Susato was also an accomplished composer who wrote and published several books of masses and motets. Time to (re)discover this fascinating musician.

Anežka Nováková / percussion
Geertje Karpez / percussion

Programme:
Benjamin Holmes
Crossing

Keiko Abe
Wind in the Bamboo Grove

Casey Cangelosi
Meditation Nr.2

Bill Molenhof
One Notch Higher

Nicolas Martynciow
Tchik

Bart Quartier
Liu Heng
Face2Face

PERCUSSION BEYOND BORDERS
Anežka Nováková and Geertje Karpez were brought together especially for the ^30th edition of Concentus Moraviae. These two young, extremely talented percussionists bring Flanders and the Czech Republic together with a true *bang*. They have put together a programme that brilliantly demonstrates the versatility of percussion instruments. From a virtuoso solo for snare drum to the intimate work of Keiko Abe.

Tom Van Der Plas / organ
Oona Van Aken / dance

Programme:
John Dunstable
Sub Tuam Protectionem (Buxheimer Orgelbuch)

Peeter Cornet
Fantasia Primi Toni (MMN 2, organ solo)

Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonata in d BWV 964 Fuga

Georg Böhm
Jesu, du bist allzu schöne (organ solo)

Philip Glass
Mad Rush

Axis Mundi
Axis Mundi is a meditative dance performance to Dunstable, Bach and Glass music. For this, choreographer and dancer Oona Van Aken collaborates with organist Tom Van Der Plas – she dances the organ sounds and the organ sounds dance around her…

Currende
Emilie de Voght, Renate Weytjens / soprano
Kerlijne Van Nevel, Clare Wilkinson / mezzosoprano
Han Helsen, Roel Van Sevenant / tenor
Reinhard Andries, Arnout Malfliet / bass
Erik Van Nevel / programme concept, artistic director

Upon the Chant
Currende is known and loved for their interpretation of sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth-century polyphonic music. For Upon the chant, artistic director Erik Van Nevel harks back to medieval Gregorian chant. He arranged the melodies of the most important liturgical moments of the year into new polyphonic music. The Dies Irae, In Paradisum, Gaudeamus, Ave Maria etcetera are thus given a new colour. That colour is combined with Heinrich Schütz’s An den Wassern zu Babel and other compositions in which the exodus plays a role, among others.

Currende
Emilie de Voght, Renate Weytjens / soprano
Kerlijne Van Nevel, Clare Wilkinson / mezzosoprano
Han Helsen, Roel Van Sevenant / tenor
Reinhard Andries, Arnout Malfliet / bass
Erik Van Nevel / programme concept, artistic director

Upon the Chant
Currende is known and loved for their interpretation of sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth-century polyphonic music. For Upon the chant, artistic director Erik Van Nevel harks back to medieval Gregorian chant. He arranged the melodies of the most important liturgical moments of the year into new polyphonic music. The Dies Irae, In Paradisum, Gaudeamus, Ave Maria etcetera are thus given a new colour. That colour is combined with Heinrich Schütz’s An den Wassern zu Babel and other compositions in which the exodus plays a role, among others.

Emma Wills / guitar

Programme:
John Dowland
Preludium Mr. Dowland’s Midnight

Francis Poulenc
Sarabande pour guitare

Johann Sebastian Bach
Prelude, Fuga, Allegro BWV 998

Marc Ribot
Bateau (arr. Emma Wills)

Frédéric Mompou
Canciones y danzas n°6: 6a. Cancion / 6b. Ritmado

Joni Mitchell
Blue

4-7-8
The title of the programme of the young guitarist, who has been gaining success after success in recent years, refers to a breathing method that reliably calms your mind and body. The virtuoso leads the listener through an emotional journey, featuring the music of John Dowland, Johann Sebastian Bach, but also Joni Mitchell and Marc Ribot. Inspired by the rhythm of the breath, the programme explores the almost infinite sound palette of Emma’s instrument.

Zefiro Torna
Elly Aerden / vocals, chatkhan
Jowan Merckx / recorders, French bagpipes, flugelhorn, percussion, ukelele, vocals, compositions
Raphaël De Cock / uilleann pipes, bawu, chatkhan, kaval, Hardanger fiddle, harmonic flutes, Jew’s harp, duduk, overtone singing, vocals
Philippe Laloy / flutes, soprano saxophone, compositions
Jean-Philippe Poncin / B-flat clarinet, bass clarinet
Jurgen De bruyn / lute, baroque guitar, chitarrone, vocals, artistic direction

Programme:
Hildegard von Bingen
O spectabiles viri

Jowan Merckx
La rosée de larmes (lyrics Publius Vergilius Maro)

Jowan Merckx
Sous le noyer

Philippe Laloy
Les roses de Saadi (lyrics Marceline Desbordes-Valmore)
Jowan Merckx
A un lilas (lyrics François Coppée)

Raphaël De Cock
Yggdrasil / Fossegangar

Guillaume du Fay
Balsamus et munda cera

Jowan Merckx , arr. Jurgen De bruyn
Purior in vicis (lyrics Horatius)

Jowan Merckx
Sous le figuier

Els Van Laethem, Bert Van Laethem
Où rien ne bouge (lyrics Emile Verhaeren)

Jowan Merckx, arr. Jowan Merckx & Natacha Simmonds
Le doux désir douloureux

Meninas vamos à murta
portugalská lidová, arr. Jowan Merckx

Jowan Merckx, arr. Philippe Laloy
Artemisia absinthium

To yasemí
Greek folk song

Jowan Merckx
Alchemilla

Balsam

Traditionally, people have tried to fathom the healing powers of plants. Their findings were often recorded in herbal books. The contributions of Rembert Dodoens from Mechelen are already invaluable in that field. In line with the international successes of the earlier productions Les Tisserands and O, Monde Aveugle, Zefiro Torna elaborated the follow-up Balsam from these herbal teachings. The compositions from the programme bear names like Alchemilla/Women’s Mantle, les Roses de Saadi or Artemisia absinthium. They resound alongside traditional songs from Portugal and Greece, Old Norse Edda songs about the Yggdrasil or tree of life, spiritual melodies by Hildegard von Bingen, finely crafted 15th-century music by Guillaume Dufay and Chansons by Jowan Merckx.

Duo Como
Emma Wills / guitar
Sebastian Enriques / accordion

Programme:
Tomas Gubitsch / Argentina
Villa Luro

Ludovico Einaudi / Italy
Elegy for the Arctic (arr. Sebastian Enriques)

Johann Sebastian Bach / Germany
Aria & Goldberg variations I, V, VI (arr. Duo Como)

Rossen Balkanski / Bulgaria
Scherzo

Richard Galliano / France
Laurita (arr. Duo Como)

Korrontzi / Bask
Fandango (arr. Duo Como)

Bireli Lagrene / France
Made in France (arr. Duo Como)

Ennio Morricone / Italy
Cinema Paradiso (arr. Duo Como)

Astor Piazzolla / Argentina
Tango suite n°3

Sivuca & Gloria Gadelha / Brazil
Feira de Mangaio (arr. Duo Como)

Henri Coene / Belgium
Atlantic Express

Douce joie
Douce joie, sweet joy, is the first programme put together by Duo Como. It is a summery mix of elegant classical music, jazz and distinctly southern rhythms. With their own arrangements of music by Richard Galliano and Ennio Morriconi, among others. The duo consists of Emma Wills (guitar) and Sebastian Enriques (accordion). The duo’s name refers to a trip to Lake Como, where they had an incredibly beautiful time with their friends. This is also exactly what they want to convey on stage: the joy of playing and the love for music.

Jan Michiels / piano

Programme:

Antonín Dvořák
Poetic Moods Op. 85 In the Old Castle

Leoš Janáček
On the Overgrown Path Vivo

Kris Defoort
DEDICATIO XIV
… le réel transfiguré par l’émotion du souvenir… (2023)

Antonín Dvořák
Poetic Moods Op. 85 Furiant

Leoš Janáček
On the overgrown path, The barn owl has not flown away !

Antonín Dvořák
Poetic Moods Op. 85 Memories

Kris Defoort
DEDICATIO VI
Treasure of emotions (2006)

Antonín Dvořák
Dumka / Furiant Op. 12

Leoš Janáček
Allegro / Good Night!

Kris Defoort
DEDICATIO III
Lonely men (2004)

Antonín Dvořák
Poetic Moods Op. 85 Serenade

Leoš Janáček
On the overgrown path Words fail!

Antonín Dvořák
Humoresques op. 101, No. 1 Vivace, No. 7 Poco lento e grazioso

Leoš Janáček
On the Overgrown Path Allegretto / The Madonna of Frýdek

Kris Defoort
DEDICATIO XVIII
… silence précieux… (2023)

Antonín Dvořák
Poetic Moods Op. 85 On the Holy Mount

Slavic soul
Since being a laureate in the Brussels Queen Elizabeth Competition 1991 Jan Michiels has been known for his very personal and multi-layered approach to the piano repertoire. Numerous recordings testify about his ‘ritual recitals’, combining old and new through a continuous dialogue with living music history. For Concentus Moraviae, he explores the Slavic soul through compositions by Antonín Dvořák and Leoš Janáček. These are linked to movements from Dedicatio by Belgian composer Kris Defoort. Dedicatio is a piano cycle written for and at the request of Jan Michiels. It us a collection of a total of nine musical letters, which Kris Defoort dedicated to people close to his heart.

Duo Aznèm
Astrid Wauters / cello
Mathilde Wauters / harp

Lieve De Sadeleer / electronics

Programme:
Call to prayer / Anonyme
Prayer / Ernest Bloch
Czardas / Vittorio Monti
Moto Trankil / Karim Baggili
Nocturne / Frédéric Chopin
Allemande from Cello suite no. 2 / Johann Sebastian Bach
Contemplation / Henriette Renié
Song of the Birds / Anonyme
Kalimat / Majda El Roumi
Spiegel im Spiegel / Arvo Pärt

Kalimat
Kalimat means words. It is the soul project of Bruges-based Duo Aznèm. In it, the twin sisters integrate spoken texts about universal love, comfort, the play of clouds, diversity and the bond between all people. Kalimat is balm for the soul. With music ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach and Arvo Pärt to prayer melodies and bird songs. They even received praise from Majida El Roumi, a superstar of the Arab world, for the interpretation of her famous song Kalimat.

Jos Van Immerseel / harpsichord

Festival Hall of Fame
This solo recital by the harpsichord legend and founder and artistic director of the great ensemble Anima Eterna is the festival’s way of thanking him for the many years of support, precious friendships, and countless and unforgettable artistic experiences Jos has prepared for our audiences over the years, whether at the harpsichord, foertepiano, organ, or as a phenomenal conductor. During the symbolic introduction into the Festival Hall of Fame, Jos van Immerseel will be accompanied by Walter Moens, diplomat and former representative of the Flemish government in the Czech Republic, thanks to whom the beneficial “Flemish Storm” was unleashed in South Moravia twenty years ago.

Jos will play works by Abraham van den Kerckhoven, Pieter Cornet, Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Peter Philips and John Bull.

Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien
Hélène Richaud / vocals, cello
Josef Žák / violin
Amaryllis Billet / violin
Iurie Morar / dulcimer
Pierre Rigopoulos / zarb, sagattes, davul & perkusion
François Lazarevitch / flute, frula, fluier, bagpipes, artistic direction

Programme:

Beauté barbare
Georg Philipp Telemann and Eastern European folk music
Works by G. P. Telemann, Rostock manuscript, Uhrovec collection (1730), folk music Poland, Moravia, Slovakia and Romania

Beauté barbare / Barbarian beauty
Returning to the festival for the second time are the brilliant French Musicians de Saint-Julien, led by the phenomenal flautist, piper and player of the most diverse wind instruments of the past, François Lazarevitch. Intrigued by Telemann’s description of the “true barbaric beauty” of the music that the composer discovered on a trip to Silesia, Lazarevitch decided to combine Polish and Hanakian dances, folk music from the Uhrovec collection, as well as from Moravia, Slovakia and Romania in the programme. The ensemble will also feature the excellent dulcimer player Iurie Morar, whom our audience knows from his performances with the French Sirba Octet.

Pieter-Jan Van Assche / double bass

Innerwoud
is a one-man-band by Belgian double bass player and composer Pieter-Jan Van Assche. After playing in several bands, from folk to neoclassical, he started to perform mostly solo, giving the double bass all the available space to speak and sing. The music is often referred to as ambient, drone and neoclassical. Drones are built live upon each other, layering different textures and sounds produced by the double bass. This results in a melancholic trip, wandering in wide open landscapes or craving in anonymous darkness, while the subtle melody shines a humble light on the whole.

For the first time, the festival will visit the inspiring surroundings of the former fruit and confectionery factory of Terezie Hrubá in Přerov. Today, the industrial site of the family-owned Osmek company is blossoming with diverse cultural activities thanks to the Hrubá kotelna association, which is a partner of the concert and which offers interested members of the public a prelude in the form of a guided tour of the site. For more information about this accompanying programme, please contact info@concentus-moraviae.cz.

Nevermind
Anna Besson / flute
Louis Creac’h / violin
Robin Pharo / viola da gamba
Jean Rondeau / harpsichord and positive organ artist in residence of the 30th festival edition

Programme:
Transcription by Nevermind (Anna Besson, Louis Creac’h, Robin Pharo & Jean Rondeau) of the Goldberg Variations BWV 988
“Clavier Übung bestehend in einer Arie mit verschiedenen Veränderungen vors Clavicimbal mit 2 Manualen” by Johann Sebastian Bach, for violin, flute, viola da gamba and basso continuo.
Transcription leads: Robin Pharo & Jean Rondeau
Editor in chief: Robin Pharo
Project created on Saturday 23 September 2023 as part of a creative residency hosted by the Bel-Air Claviers Festival.

The love and passion of ancient repertoire and music from all horizons led Anna Besson, Louis Creac’h, Robin Pharo and our artist-in-residence Jean Rondeau to create Nevermind in 2013. Together, their mission is to share the works they love with a wide and varied audience, championing and transcending the quartet repertoire (flute, violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord) of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At the core of Nevermind’s 2024/25 season are J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, arranged for baroque quartet for the first time by the ensemble. Nevermind inventively reimagines the famous Goldbergs and offers an eloquent and original “variation on variations”.

The Goldbergs transcribed by Nevermind can be heard here:

Vox Luminis
Lionel Meunier / artistic director

Programme:
Johann Bach
Unser Leben ist ein Schatten

Johann Michael Bach
Herr, ich warte auf dein Heil
Sei Lieber Tag wilkommen
Nun Treten wir ins neue Jahr
Halt was du hast

Johann Christoph Bach
Der Mensch von Weibe geboren
Fürchte dich nicht
Lieber Herr Gott, wecke uns auf

Johann Ludwig Bach
Das Blut Jesu Christi

Bach Dynasty
The ensemble Vox Luminis, led by Lionel Meunier, specialises in English, Italian and German repertoire from the 17th and early 18th century and is internationally acclaimed for its unique sound. For Concentus Moraviae they focus on the Bach Dynasty. Bach’s knowledge of his family’s motets is evidenced by a remarkable collection known as the Altbachisches Archiv. This volume includes some twenty motets and a series of cantatas composed by successive generations of Bachs. It is thought to have passed through the hands of various family members, who made their own contributions and revisions, before Johann Sebastian acquired it sometime around 1739.

Jean Rondeau / harpsichord
artist in residence of the 30th festival edition

Programme:
Johann Sebastian Bach
Goldberg Variations BWV 988

Ode to Silence
On the first of his two solo nights, the 30th Festival’s artist in residence will offer Bach’s Goldberg Variations in original harpsichord form. “All Bach is there in the Goldberg Variations … all music is there … and I will no doubt spend my life working on them,” says Rondeau, who worked with the original edition containing Bach’s own markings and corrections while studying them. In the harpsichord recital, Rondeau performs the set of variations in their complete form, with suggested repetitions and thoughtfully inserted moments of silence.

Jean Rondeau / organ
artist in residence of the 30th festival edition

Programme:
Johann Sebastian Bach
Goldberg Variations BWV 988

Sunday Goldberg Afternoon
Jean Rondeau, the 30th Festival’s Artist in Residence, pays tribute to the Goldberg Variations: “All Bach is there in the Goldberg Variations … all music is there … and I will no doubt spend my life working on them,” says Rondeau, who will not only grace the Sunday afternoon with the famous work in the organ version, but will also offer it to our audience in its original harpsichord form, in a quartet transcription with the Nevermind ensemble and finally in a creative authorial guise in the UNDR project during the next concerts of his residency.

In cooperation with the festival Křtiny musical quatrefoil

a nocte temporis
Anna  Besson / traverso
Myriam Rignol / viola da gamba
Béatrice Martin / harpsichord
Simon Linné / theorbo
Reinoud Van Mechelen / tenor, artistic direction

Oh, ma belle brunette
The term ‘brunette’ refers not only to a young woman with brown hair, but also to a musical form that was highly fashionable from the late seventeenth century to the early eighteenth. The genre evolved from the air de cour, extremely popular in France since the beginning of the seventeenth century. The compositional process, however, remained very similar: to write a short, tender song, dealing with themes of love or nature, which could be sung alone or accompanied by a harmonic instrument. The late seventeenth century also saw the appearance of an instrument that soon became a favourite of composers and amateur musicians: the German flute, now called the traverso or Baroque flute.
In this programme, tenor Reinoud van Mechelen, flautist Anna Besson and a nocte temporis present an anthology of airs and brunettes ranging from the most touching song to the heartiest drinking song (air à boire).

Katta / organ

Societas Incognitorum, Eduard Tomaštík / artistic direction

Floris De Rycker / lute

Programme:
Pierre Attaingnant
Haulberroys

The three ravens
folk song

Frie J. Jacobs
Theme for the dancing goat

In a garden so green
folk song

The flowers of the forest
folk song

Nick Drake
Fruit tree

Frie J. Jacobs
Rain in the ears, drizzle in the eyes

JJ Cale
Magnolia

Francis Cutting
The squirrel´s toy
Galliard
Greensleeves
Almain

Adrian Le Roy
Branles de Poictou
Pied de cheval

Frie J. Jacobs
Music for wind

Adriaen Valerius
Schoonste Nimphe van het Wout
Onder de linde grune

Elias Mertel
The voice of the earth
Spectri eiusdem sonus nocturnus

In a garden so green
The lute player Floris De Rycker has compiled a solo programme in which he visits various musical gardens. Besides drawing on the many collections of music for the lute, he has linked his programme to folk music through Scottish lute music such as The Flowers of the Forest, In A Garden So Green and the famous Greensleeves. He will also perform a few visual scores by Frie J. Jacobs. These scores are made from various plants and seeds. The result is a bouquet of many colours.

Le Pavillon de Musique
Ann Cnop / violin, artistic direction
Frans Vos / viola
Mathilde Wolfs / cello

Barthold Kuijken / traverso

Programme:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Flute Quartets
Quartet in C
Quartet in A
Quartet in G
Quartet in D

The Mechelen-based company Le Pavillon de Musique, together with master flautist Barthold Kuijken, will perform several flute quartets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as they sounded in the 18th century. The Austrian genius was barely 22 years old when – during a tour of Germany and France in 1777 – he produced four flute quartets (flute-violin-viola-cello). Le Pavillon lives up to its reputation and uses only period instruments in this performance.

UNDR
Jean Rondeau / piano, upright
artist in residence of the 30th festival edition
Tancrède D. Kummer / percussion
Silouane Colmet Daâge / sound director

UNDR
For the fourth time, artist in residence Jean Rondeau turns to his beloved Goldberg Variations. This time, he sits behind the concert grand piano and the upright in a completely unique original project called UNDR – wonder. Although similar in linear structure, these variations move in a sound world far removed from Bach’s original work. UNDR is a complex, deeply enriching listening experience that highlights the introspective and improvisational approach of its creators.

Le Pavillon de Musique
Ann Cnop / violin, artistic direction
Frans Vos / viola
Mathilde Wolfs / cello

Barthold Kuijken / traverso

Programme:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Flute Quartets
Quartet in C
Quartet in A
Quartet in G
Quartet in D

The Mechelen-based company Le Pavillon de Musique, together with master flautist Barthold Kuijken, will perform several flute quartets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as they sounded in the 18th century. The Austrian genius was barely 22 years old when – during a tour of Germany and France in 1777 – he produced four flute quartets (flute-violin-viola-cello). Le Pavillon lives up to its reputation and uses only period instruments in this performance.

Closing concert

Bryggen Bruges strings
Jolente De Maeyer / artistic direction

Programme:
Max Richter
The New Four Seasons: Vivaldi Recomposed

Edvard Grieg
From Holberg’s Time, Op. 40 (selection)
Praeludium (Allegro vivace)
Sarabande (Andante)
Gavotte (Allegretto)

Irresistible bows from Bruges
This dynamic Belgian string orchestra, led by virtuoso violinist Jolente De Maeyer, emphasizes a novel repertoire, its imaginative innovations and above all a captivating form of interpretation and stage presentation. Bryggen builds on the strength of the string orchestra and integrates key works of 20th and 21st century music into its repertoire. He emphasizes the fundamental importance of dynamics to sound, interaction, communication and focus.