Guide to Contemporary Music in Belgium Guide To
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–– GUIDE TO GUIDE TO CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN Flanders arts InstItute BELGIUM CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN BEL is an interface organisation and COvER IMAgE expertise centre for the arts from Flanders and Brussels. Blackboard, Thomas Smetryns The organisation caters to — Found Compositions #2 — both national and international — for 5 players — professional arts audiences. The institute is the contact Every player selects 5 pitches without point for foreign art professionals consulting his/her fellow players. in search of information on The pitches should be played from the visual and performing arts and highest to the lowest. on music in Flanders. To increase One pitch will be played each staff the awareness and visibility of except for occasional ornamentations the Flemish arts scene on an (see below). If it’s not possible to international level we stimulate produce a sustained note, play a fast and help develop international tremolo. collaboration, communication and exchange between artists, Every player selects 5 dynamics without art professionals and policy- consulting his/her fellow players. makers. With this, we are aiming The dynamics should be arranged from to build sustainable international loud to quiet and a certain dynamic will relations and to encourage be used for a certain staff. Every player and support exchange should be really strict about the chosen and cooperation on an dynamics. If someone appears to be a international scale. lot more quiet than the other players he/ she should not try to adjust the volume. Occasionally the lines are interrupted. g This should be interpreted as silence. If the acrylate released and formed IUM downward lines, this should be interpreted as ornamentations/ inflections of the selected note. The piece should be played fast, every staff should be about 15-20 seconds. GCM_cover_8mm_DRUK.indd 1 15/11/20 19:23 –– GUIDE TO GUIDE TO CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN Flanders arts InstItute BELGIUM CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN BEL is an interface organisation and COvER IMAgE expertise centre for the arts from Flanders and Brussels. Blackboard, Thomas Smetryns The organisation caters to — Found Compositions #2 — both national and international — for 5 players — professional arts audiences. The institute is the contact Every player selects 5 pitches without point for foreign art professionals consulting his/her fellow players. in search of information on The pitches should be played from the visual and performing arts and highest to the lowest. on music in Flanders. To increase One pitch will be played each staff the awareness and visibility of except for occasional ornamentations the Flemish arts scene on an (see below). If it’s not possible to international level we stimulate produce a sustained note, play a fast and help develop international tremolo. collaboration, communication and exchange between artists, Every player selects 5 dynamics without art professionals and policy- consulting his/her fellow players. makers. With this, we are aiming The dynamics should be arranged from to build sustainable international loud to quiet and a certain dynamic will relations and to encourage be used for a certain staff. Every player and support exchange should be really strict about the chosen and cooperation on an dynamics. If someone appears to be a international scale. lot more quiet than the other players he/ she should not try to adjust the volume. Occasionally the lines are interrupted. g This should be interpreted as silence. If the acrylate released and formed IUM downward lines, this should be interpreted as ornamentations/ inflections of the selected note. The piece should be played fast, every staff should be about 15-20 seconds. GCM_cover_8mm_DRUK.indd 1 15/11/20 19:23 GUIDE TO CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN BELGIUM 2020 GUIDE TO CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN GUIDE TO CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN FlANDERS ARTS INSTITUTE CONTENTS PART 1 BElGIUM THE ARTISTS 13 COMPOSERS ENSEMBLES 14 • Ensembles specialised in contemporary music 26 • Ensembles with great interest in contemporary music SOLOISTS 32 • Soloists specialised in contemporary music 39 • Soloists with great interest in contemporary music 40 CONDUCTORS 46 CHOIR CONDUCTORS 48 ORCHESTRAS 50 CHOIRS 51 MUSIC THEATRE/OPERA PART PART 2 3 ORGANISATIONS AND CONTEXT 5 STRUCTURES MUSIC ORGANISATIONS 102 ABOUT 60 • Associations CULTURAL POLICY 62 • Information/ 103 • Flanders documentation/ 104 • Wallonia-Brussels promotion Federation 66 • Laboratories for 105 • East Belgium experimental/electronic 106 FURTHER READING music & research ON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CONCERT ORGANISATIONS IN BELGIUM 70 • Festivals 76 • Arts centres & concert halls 82 • Working spaces 85 HIGHER MUSIC EDUCATION 90 ACADEMIES & SUMMER COURSES 92 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS FOR COMPOSITION 94 MEDIA 97 PUBLISHERS 98 RECORD/DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES 6 BELGIUM = FLANDERS + WALLONIA + BRUSSELS Belgium is a federal state in the heart of Europe, comprising preface 3 regions (Flemish region, the Brussels-Capital Region and the Walloon Region), 3 communities (Flemish, French and German-speaking), and 4 language areas (Dutch, French, and German and Brussels as a bilingual area), whose boundaries overlap. Flanders is the northern, Dutch- speaking part of Belgium, and Wallonia the Southern, French- and also German-speaking part. Each community is autonomous for matters such as culture, education and media. and has its own institutions. Brussels, capital of Belgium and of Flanders as well, is home to the European Parliament and many international cultural institutions. Its cultural policy is taken in charge by the institutions of the communities. PREFACE 7 On a map of the world Belgium as possible by listing those who looks smaller than a postage contribute most significantly to stamp. But a felicitous turn of the promotion of contemporary history has made this region music, both in terms of Belgian into a crossroads of different and of international repertoire. cultures. This is why Belgium is rich in creative talent and During the preparation of this overflowing with cultural publication we received the activities. Music thrives every- sad news of the sudden death where, what with every city of conductor Patrick Davin boasting a diversity of concert (09/09/2020) and the passing halls or other interesting away of composer Frédéric locations for concerts, festivals Devreese (28/09/2020). Both and many small-scale initiatives. have left an indelible mark on musical life in Belgium and These initiatives have deserve our deepest respect. contributed to the growing maturity of the contemporary Stef Coninx — music scene in Belgium over Flanders Arts Institute recent years. Doors have been opened; a wind of change is blowing. The new guard refuses to be compartmentalised any longer. Thus a lively and exciting future is around the corner in this rapidly changing world. This practical guide offers an introduction to artists and organisations that are repre- sentative of the contemporary Belgian music scene. We make no claim to be exhaustive, but an attempt has been made nonetheless to be as complete Fractales © Martin Michiels Adilia Yip Fabian Coomans © PinoMontisci Walpurgis © Stef Depover Benjamin Glorieux THE ARTISTSTHE 1 PART 9 Ictus © Christophe Urbain Nico Couck © Bart Boodts Tiptoe company Down the Rabbit Hole © Vanja Babic Nemø ensemble Zwerm Nemø ensemble Daan Vandewalle 1.1. Biographies Composers Biographies of living composers can be found on the following websites: Composers from the Flemish community: www.matrix-new-music.be www.flandersmusic.be Composers from the French-speaking community: Outlines 13 www.compositeurs.be For a comprehensive Belgian composers of musicological survey of acousmatic music: Flanders and new music we www.febeme-befem.be; refer to texts by musicologists www.electrodoc.musiques- Christine Dysers and Rudy recherches.be Tambuyser on classics.flandersartsinstitute.be Belgian screen composers (film, documentary, series, For more information and video games): surveys about music in www.screencomposers.be Wallonia-Brussels we refer to www.idlm.be Working lists An important part of The Matrix New Music Centre database is devoted to Flemish music: www.matrix-new-music.be/en/ publications/flemish-composers- database/ The database of Forum Des Compositeurs publishes working lists of all living French speaking composers: https://compositeurs.be/base_de_ donnees The online database of Musiques & Recherches: electrodoc is dedicated to both Belgian and international acousmatic music: electrodoc.musiques-recherches.be 1.2. Besides ensembles performance, creation and presentation of new music, often in a multidisciplinary context LabeL New World Records Since its formation in 2009, Besides uses the tradition of written music as a starting point to explore live-electronics, performance and improvisation when brainstorming for new programme concepts. The 14 1.2.A. Ensembles nine individual musicians each speCialised work in very different fields of in Contemporary the musical spectrum: ranging musiC from rock to electronic music, from sound design to music theatre, composition and even festival organisation. This fact, together with the uncommon combination of harp, saxophone, drums, violin, cello, flute, e-guitar, piano and electronics, gives Besides its unique signature sound. The creation of new repertoire specialised in contemporary music will therefore only be possible through constantly looking for collaborative ventures with composers, sound artists and ensembles specialised performers. Besides had been coached