"...In
the De Bijloke Music Centrum cultural expression takes place within
various art forms and now that the City of Ghent is chosen by
Unesco to be the fourth city of Creative Music in Europe you will
also see interaction on a larger and different scale. Classical
concerts will echo one another in all four of the cities chosen
by Unesco - Ghent, Bologna, Seville and Glasgow. And the De Bijloke
Music Centrum will play its role in the events to the full."
- Daan Bauwens.
"...For
the De Bijloke Music Centrum Côte Jardin was a risk laden
double dare and it paid off. It didn't rain and the music wasn't
canned. More people turned up for it than at any time in the past
with free concerts. More amazing, however; is the fact that Côte
Jardin has pushed the imaginary line between canned music and
the sentiment usually imagined with classical and antique music,
into a relieved zone of lively creativity.
- Argo Spier
NEWSREEL - June 2011 - risk-laden
Côte Jardin - an open-air classical music 'picnic'
The
De Bijloke Music Centrum in Ghent, Belgium (Flemish sector - Ed)
was, again this year; among the first of prestigious music halls
in Europe to announce its 2011-2012 program. It unveiled projects
and vision for the new season. As a plus, it informed the public
and devotees and to create the needed buzz to make hay while it
is in pole position, it used existing convivial homespun, the
trump in branding it has become renowned for in the past years,
to come up on the 22nd of May with the risky idea to have a 'garden
picnic with classical music', window dressing a project called
Côte Jardin.
The
idea of open-air concerts isn't new. The exploit of open spaces
as podia and cocooning started in the sixties with the American
Rock festival, Woodstock. Open-air Jazz festivals have been going
on for ages, as have City Street festivals; which started in the
late ninties. Every mayor town, and even small provincial capitals
in Europe, have a well-established platform for open-air activities
and music. Most of Americans swoon about the touristy versions
of the Strauss' 'Waltzing Mantillas' and the so-called 'Wiener
Blut' concerts in Vienna, but that doesn't really count as 'classical
music'. Pouring out Alan Berg, Gustav Mahler, having clave cymbal
music of Jean-Henri D'Anglebert, Joseph Le Blan and Francis Couperin,
Chamber Music,all from a stage among trees into the oestrogen
loaded atmosphere of a beginning summer's day, and in a country
that has more rain than sun? That is new! In Northern Europe,
the month of May is known to have a high probability of having
everything soaked with rain: So; engaging in a massive open-air
project during the opening of a new calendar year ... well, THAT
is risky, novel business as well. There's dare in it and it is
novel in its dare. The slightest wind could take the lightest
of notes of a Berg's to the highest branch of a tree and the audience
would miss it.
However
it may be, this cutting edge challenge worked for the programming
team of the De Bijloke Centrum, and its new Managing staff, on
the 22nd of May, 2011. The Centrum transformed its 'old' strain
of a day of free concerts into an exciting novelty and launched
the virtually unheard of concept of a 'classic musical picnic'.
In so doing; it challenged the fixed idea that there exists a
border and/or thin dividing line among classical music performances,
the traditional serenity that goes with it, its message and meaning
and the idea of having classical music merely as a background
touch for the provision of a certain 'classiness' to an ordinary
fundraising get together. For the De Bijloke Music Centrum it
was a risk laden double dare and it paid off. It didn't rain and
the music wasn't canned. More people turned up for it than at
any time in the past with free concerts. A first estimate is 5000
and more than 2000 tickets were sold for concerts in the new season
(ref. source Press section De Bijloke - Ed). More amazing, however;
is the fact that Côte Jardin has pushed the imaginary line
between canned music and the sentiment usually imagined with classical
and antique music, into a relieved zone of lively creativity.
The
stance has shifted into a winning compromise for the De Bijloke
Music Centrum. Its new General Manager, Daan Bauwens, took over
from the much laurelled Yves Rosseel, the previous General Manager
that lead and built the notoriety of the De Bijloke Music Centrum,
amidst a time when the world financial crisis hit Belgium; and
governmental financial support cut too much of cultural expression.
The De Bijloke Music Centrum presently gets the least amount of
subsidy of music venues and initiatives in Belgium. (Ref. source
Lieven Decaluwé, City Council Official, Culture - Ed) The
pressure on the De Bijloke team; aswell as all General Managers,
staff of music Centres, and Halls all over Belgium, to re-create
and re-define ambitions and seek new venues of exploit, is enormous.
This means that more factors than just the vision of a General
Manager come into play in programming musical seasons and projects.
A call for incentives is high on the agenda. Many will succumb
in the coming years to the displaying of virtual successes, instead
of steering good courses in the preservation of the classical
music tradition and quality in performances. The particular problem
that the De Bijloke programming team and its new General Director
now face, is how to make true a Music Center that can flourish
in the midst of these financial government cuts in subsidies,
its high demanding audience, and conserving the charged creative
energy that the previous General Director was able to generate.
Additionally, they struggle with how to use this force and re-define
perspectives. Cote Jardin is the most successful step into the
changing field of contemporary classical music approach. The success
of the high risk Côte Jardin may be a fluke, some may argue,
but as for now, it is paying off and the design of it will be
copied across the borders of Belgium just as soon as word gets
out. News will also spread about the daring enthusiasm of the
De Bijloke Music Centrum and its programming team that has set
the example for testing limits. The De Bijloke, with Côte
Jardin, proved it is possible to have a picnic and yet not slip
into flat sociality a la initiatives such as Jazzes in Parks,
which really was no more than booze, hype and delusional exploit
of the need to fraternize and had little to do with the creation
or musical performance. In the case of the De Bijloke on 22nd
of May 2011, it was 'for man and to the height of man'. The argument
that it was not a fluke, is a valid one. It was the result of
inventiveness, dare and a professional attitude ... and yes; the
weather gods were on the side of the winner. Most intriguing of
all, it was a well gambled , bold and professionally planned decision
that has set the reaping of success into motion.
There
IS something happening and moving in the De Bijloke Music Centrum
that catches the suspicious eye. Daan Bauwens and his programming
team have a steady hand in what will be coming next, as they apparently
did last year. It was predicted early last season that the shift
and change in management in the time of a financial crisis will
have a negative result on and for the generation of energy and
the income of the Centrum's budget (ref. Argo Spier Newsreel -
02 2010 - Ed) ... that didn't happened, however. Last year’s
profit was made by the Centrum and no obvious sacrifice of standards
took place. That may be a sign and a trick under the hat of the
Centrum too.
Côte
Jardin has not only set a New Season in motion, it also celebrated
the acceptance of the public of the new vitality and inventiveness
that is brooding in the Centrum's activities. The number of tickets
sold on the 'garden party' Cote Jardin may convince the sceptics.
bijloke's program
2011
- 2012
christoph graupner project - dutch only
Argo
Spier, Opera Pages
Consulting editor, Cherie Chalouhi, USA
SEASON 2010 - World Cultural Heritage & UNESCO City-of-Music,
Ghent, Belgium - Quotes
"...
Nu Gent UNESCO Creative City of Music is geworden, wil ik De Bijloke
Internationaal op de kaart zetten"
[ Now
that Ghent has become the UNESCO City-of-Music I wish to put the
De Bijloke on the map internationally. - Ed]
-
Daan Bauwens, General Director De Bijloke Music Centrum.
"...
To the American music lover it is quite feasible to make a roundtrip
visiting Köln, Brussels and Ghent in a three-day sprint for
opera and classical music. This is really the message that the
Music Halls in the near vicinity and periphery of the Ruhr should
get out in 2010 – dialogue, feasibility and collaboration."
- Argo Spier
 |
Newsreel
- April 2010 -
The De Bijloke Music Centrum in Ghent, Belgium is one of the first
music halls in the Flemish part of Belgium to announce its new
2010 – 2011 program. More than 100 concerts, consisting
of music ranging from mediaeval compositions, eastern exotic rhythms
and Voix Gras (emphasising the human voice in the classical vocal
repertoire), to contemporary vocal and symphonic ensembles are
integrated into the agenda. Although the Centrum has already had
an overwhelming success this Season and still benefits from its
exponential growth over the past couple of years, the new Season
and program may come under stress in 2011 and the new season turn
out to be one of slower growth. With the departure of the well-beloved
General Music Director, Yves
Rosseel, and the prospect of a possible ‘public
change’ due to his departure, and the coming of the new
General Director, Daan
Bauwens, it will face the challenges of both keeping
the existing public and winning the new. This is a known phenomenon
in the music world, the public responds erratically to alterations
in management. (The most recent case of ‘disruptive public’
is when the Generalintendant,
Christoph
Meyer, of the Opera in Mainz, Germany was appointed
General Director of the Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf in the
Rhur in September 2010. Many fans of his now regularly take the
four-hour drive to Düsseldorf and Duisburg to attend ballet
performances – Ed) But this is not the
only problematic aspect that faces the De Bijloke Music Centrum.
Putting on productions cost more today than in previous years
and especially the high quality ones that the De Bijloke is used
to programming. And generally expenses to run a concern as large
as the De Bijloke Music Centrum have risen, while at the same
time the public has become more frugal. Money that will be earned
in 2010 - 2011 and the usual State and City subsidies will not
go as far as it did in previous seasons.Also, the continuous growth
of the Centrum during its existence – last year’s
attendance enjoyed an exceptional 16% increase – has set
such a high benchmark for the new management that it will be almost
inevitable for it to accept that there are limits to growth. The
Centrum had a return of €4 000 000 in 2009. It is a non-profit
organization and all the money is continuously re-invested in
infrastructure and maintaining a high standard of music performances.
Known best management strategy for an organization in affluence
is to reinvest income after paying bills in product and the ability
to deliver it. This the De Bijloke has done in the past and will
have to do continuously.
For
the moment ‘all eyes’ are on the new General Director
and his incentives. What accents will he lay? In how far will
he 're-invest' potential now that the infra-structure - one of
the best as far as contemporary music centers go - is in place?
Good news, however, is that he had ample opportunity to collect
extensive know-how in programming for a younger public in his
previous position as Director of the Handelsbeurs, another music
venue and circuit of music in the city. Drawing in and consolidating
the young is always a solid investment for growth and the prediction
is that this will be a priority in his policy. This may be the
needed stilt for the new season and future. But it still will
be a challenge for him and his team to keep up with expansion
and consolidation and welcome an even higher turnout in the coming
season, as well as mustering the dynamism to keep the established
high standard of the yearly productions for which the De Bijloke
has become so well-known in this part of Europe. Hopefully the
stress of the 'new times' will not compromise vision. Options
for short-term hype could be destructive agents for hampering
long-term policy planning, a pothole that the previous managemment
knew how to avoid.
But
in this intricate play of forces there's even more good news and
a strong indication that the new management has decided to keep
on building on that what has already been achieved, the new program
has kept the route of the established categories developed over
the past 10 years – Musica Antiqua 1 and 2 featuring Baroque
music, Voix Gras, East of Eden with music from the near and far
East, Symphonic Orchestras and Jazz. This should enthral both
the existing public and ‘groupies and newbies’ coming
‘in’ who will discover that this is a golden formula,
successfully catering to the most diverse tastes in classical
music. It is a plume for Daan Bauwens, a wise decision and it
puts the die-hard De Bijloke fans at ease. The Christoph Graupner
project (and its closing festivities on the weekend of the 10th
of December 2010) and the new Festival Kathak-Akran
Khan (in April 2011) with the Indian choreographer
Akram Khan and his latest creation called ‘Gnosis’
will be highlights in the season that may be symbiotic for the
De Bijloke, and the Centrum's active co-operation with various
other music venues and circuits in the city may also be part of
the refinement providing measure to make the difference between
reconciliation and expansion and to assist the De Bijloke and
its new management in cutting the niche in 2010 – 2011.
bijloke's program
2010
- 2011
homepage kathak-akran khan
christoph graupner project - dutch only
Argo
Spier, Opera Pages
Consulting editor, Joneve McCormick, USA
tea with yves
ARCHIVE - December 2009
(Go 'Update with complete interview - Tea with Yves Rosseel'
- 20th November 2009)
The
yearly November Music concert series in the De Bijloke Music Centrum
in Ghent, Belgium, took place on the weekend of 12/11 - 15/11/2009.
This year's program offered a most sensitive journey into the
realm of authentic and original renaissance music from the 15th
and 16th centuries. But, like a pendulum, it not only swung the
visitor back to the source material of present day music, it returned
him to the exciting exuberance of contemporary compositions by
20th century composers - to two virtuoso performances and World
Premieres by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta of the Netherlands - work
by the composers Moisei Vainberg (1919-1996), Concertino opus
42, and Sofia Goebaidoelina (1934), creation for bajan and violin.
It did this with a tour de force and invigorating intensity, yet
the programming was designed in such a way that there was spacious
time for sufficient and enjoyable reflection too. The multitude
of composers that passed the revue is impressive and having the
opportunity to attend the series and getting such a clean-cut
exposure to work seldom performed is a rarity in classical concert
venues in both Belgium and its surrounding neighbouring countries.
Composers such as Sergei Prokofyev, Anton Weber (1883-1945), Arnold
Schönberg (1874-1951), Johannes Brams (1833-1897), Johann
Sebastian Bach (1684-1750), Frank Agsteribbe (1968), Antonio Vivaldi
(1678-1741), Frits Celis (1929), Willem Gommaar Kennis (1717-1789),
Tristan Keuris (1946-1996), Henri Dutilleux (1916), Pierre de
la Rue (1460-1518), Nicolas Gombert (1495-1560), Jacob Buus (1500-1565),
Giaches De Wert (1535-1596), John Wilbye (1574-1638), Orlando
Gibbons (1583-1625), Ludwig Van Beethoven, Moisei Vainberg (1919-1996)
and Sofia Goebaidoelina (1934) ... all passed the revue.
The
performances of the two World Premieres by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta
of the composers Moisei Vainberg (1919-1996), Concertino opus
42, and of Sofia Goebaidoelina's (1934) creation for bajan
and violin were superbly innovative. Sofia Goebaidoelina is a
much beloved composer and has gained through the years something
of a cult status with fans following productions of her work.
The performance of her latest creation, which premiered in Amsterdam,
The Netherlands, on the night after its premiere in Belgium, was
fully booked in advance. This resulted in even more Dutch fans
attending the performance in the De Bijloke.
As awareness
of the De Bijloke Music Centrum’s programming has grown
in the recent years, music lovers from countries outside Belgium
now also seem to take short city breaks and trips to coincide
with concerts, combining a visit to the city of Ghent for the
day and attending a concert at night. In the audience were people
from as far away as Brighton, South England, and Barcelona, Catalonia,
Spain. But this all is mere indication as to what pay-off there
can be for having an unadulterated attitude towards the programming
of classical music. As such - and it may serve as a reminder to
other music venues that presently suffer financially and cannot
afford exaggerated marketing campaigns and over-the-top advertising
- it is a case of not cheating audiences with hype and irritant
programming but providing the always much sought after authenticity.
There is a psychological breaking or 'switching' point
when audiences stop attending concerts or become die-hards and
believers. And it is quality that draws people with a real taste
for music - concerning this, the De Bijloke's team of experts
seem to know this by heart and to be able to provide what is needed.
The Centrum has never actively spent money on promotion of its
name outside Belgium. Yet its concerts and acclaim have become
known. Its uncompromising attitude and refusal to partake in practises
of acrimony and hype is its calling card. The visitor, when entering
the jubilant foyer with its immense glass cages covering the medieval
hospital the centrum was before, immediately feels this sincerity
in the ethic. In all of the compositions and performances of the
near past - this was the case in the concerts I attended - there
was that specific trace of integrity oozing out. The approaches
are warm and there is that wonderful open, honest heart inviting
the visitor in. Of this last, Guido De Neve's interpretation of
Frank Agsteribbe's ‘La mouche à miel’
on the November Music program is a good example.
The darker side
of the argument, however, is the question as to whether a Director
and his program advisors can keep it up fending off frivolity
and the hype that marketing traps set. Mega events and freak performances
may entice and bring the possibility of 'getting' needed
funds quickly. It is a solace to know, however, that over-managed
events can backfire and go terribly wrong, leaving larger holes
in pockets. But the debate really is about whether it is 'management
cum over-management' or the 'business with music'
that is important in the programming of classical music concerts.
And to fully invest in the 'business with music' requires
thorough introspection and heaps of intuiition. Professionalism
is a place where one comes from and not a means to an end. This
thought has enormous innovative power. With its November Music,
it is fair to say that the De Bijloke Centrum opted for the 'business
with music' - and it became a place where music 'happened'
and nothing whatever that was on the program had anything to do
with 'means to an end'. The last concert in the series, on Sunday
the 15th of November, Sergei Prokofyev's composition, Romeo
and Juliet, had a full symphony orchestra backing two actors
telling and building the story Shakespeare conceived ... and that
for an audience of 500 children under 12 years and their parents.
If that is not a worthwhile statement regarding the intention
of the De Bijloke Music Centrum, then nothing is. It just had
to be a full Symphonic Orchestra. The savings that could have
been achieved by reducing the number of musicians just didn't
seem to have been an option. I personally am almost sure that
the issue didn't even occur to the De Bijloke's program and policy
makers.
Argo Spier, Opera Pages
Consulting editor, Joneve McCormick, USA
ARCHIVE
2010 - feature - 'On tea' with Yves Rosseel
(Update with complete
interview - 20th november 2009)
Interview
by Argo Spier
Having
an 'on tea' interview/discussion with Yves Rosseel, the
General Director of the De Bijloke Music Centrum in Ghent, Belgium
has been an invigorating experience, bringing the exhilaration
one experiences when among 'men of vision'. With this man there's
a taste of alchemy in the air and talking with him is to be privy
to processes taking place behind closed doors, as he is responsible
for managing one of the most prolific Music Centres in the Benelux.
As General Director, his very demanding business is the business
of music. This requires thorough knowledge of the subject, solid
amounts of professionalism, insight into the volition of music
and grand intuition. Also, he needs style and charisma. Yves Rosseel
has it all. On the 17th of November 2009 (just after the November
Music concert series - see newsreel above) I had the opportunity
to secure an interview with him; he fit it into his schedule even
though the successful series of November concerts had just ended
on the 15th and new program requirements were already underway.
He has also started working again on his favourite Featuring
Projects in which sustainable talent is sought and a podium
provided for it. And there is the new and intriguing Christoph
Graupner Project demanding attention as well. This latest
project is a 'novo' that will cause quite a stir on the contemporary
music scene. It has been kept private until now.
Arriving
at the De Bijloke complex, a typically prissy Belgium rain started
coming down. I tried to side-step it by jumping as briskly as
I could into the Centrum's unique and modern multi-functional
foyer complex with its bar, stairs, visually-connected levels
and displays on the latest digital video equipment of programs.
Inside, an assistant was arranging orchids on elbow-high, mobile
dinner tables. "There’s another VIP gathering here
tonight", I thought, and again the 'mystery' of how
things happen so silently in the Centrum intrigued me. Yves Rosseel,
too, is a man of silent steps. He has background authority and
hardly ever shows up in the foreground. It is in his character
not to be presumptuous but he also makes a point of it - "A
Director’s place is not on stage … stages are for
musicians," he explains. A large number of high-quality
concerts are performed yearly at the De Bijloke Music Centrum
and there is persistence in the continuation of this. And there
are projects and programs coming out into the open when one doesn’t
really expect them to. (It turned out that the orchids were for
the concert, One Perfect Harmony, by Phillipe Herrewege's
and the renowned ensemble Collegium Vocale celebrating Henry Purcell's
Hail! Bright Cecilia on Friday.) (You can meet Phillipe
Herrewege, who is conducting regularly at the De Bijloke at You
Tube - Les
Académies Musicales de Philippe Herreweghe Part 1
- Ed.) It is as if there is an invisible hand hovering
over the De Bijloke complex which draws things out of a hat, but
that's a perception of an outsider. Everything that happens in
the De Bijloke has a strictly planned schedule, meticulously timed
in advance. Yves Rosseel has everything to do with the 'invisible
hand'. He oversees all aspects of the business. Of course he cannot
'run' the Complex alone, he has to have a most enthusiastic team
of assistants to help him, and he does. The present team of personnel
beams 'friendly, young and energetic'. They help 'steer' Yves
Rosseel's policy and they are the trusted ones who 'drive' the
De Bijloke machine. And there's also another 'task force' of people
without whose assistance and vision nothing he has achieved would
have been possible, namely those who came before him and contributed
to the unconscious collective of the energy field needed for such
a music center to function. In this respect, every single achievement
of a Director is also the result of the collective endeavor. And
this Yves Rosseel understands well.
As I entered
Yves Rosseel's office, I was surprised by the brilliant white,
natural light coming from the tall, new windows, even though it
was winter. His office is a functional work space with a desk
(‘November’ flowers on it) and, centrally placed,
is a large table with chairs where a small group can work and
have discussions. And that is it. Here is where the 'invisible
hand' is located and this is the secret antechamber where many
a grand concert has found its design. It was exactly 16.00h, as
we had agreed, and I sat down at the 'invisible hand' table to
face the man who now is the face of the collective called the
De Bijloke Music Centrum.
Yves Rosseel
has been General Director of the De Bijloke Music Centrum since
its fragile beginning in 1998, during which time he has been responsible
for both the commercial and artistic sides of the Centrum's day
to day operations. He has also been, from its beginning, the one
responsible for overseeing the form and content of projects and
the series of concerts performed in the Centrum. His first endeavor,
exposing and laurelling the work of Selva Morale é
Spirituale of Montverdie, set the stage for what was to follow,
a complete re-appreciation of hereditary antiquary in music. And
for 10 years he has stayed persistently with his vision and worked
together with others to contribute and to create a space in which
authentic music and the heritage from medieval times can flourish.
This dream has become true. Not a single man's dream but a dream
fired by a collective eclipse of energy from many sources. The
'space' he envisioned, the physical De Bijloke complex in Ghent,
is now one of the most important venues for musicians worldwide
to launch their careers internationally. His predecessors, the
present staff and himsalf may be proud of the achievement. When
Yves Rosseel first came to the De Bijloke complex, it was dilapidated
and facilities were rudimentary. But when he came up with the
idea to fuse digging into the past with the restoration of the
complex (which had housed an old hospital complex) with research
into the origins of western classical music, a new impetus was
born for everybody. This is what has made the difference. This
fused dream and vision were separate from so many other, similar
initiatives of that time. Today the De Bijloke Music Centrum is
a most modern facility and it holds a treasure of research material
pertaining to medieval music and instruments. The Centrum is alive
with a multitude of initiatives, projects and academic research,
all connected with the preservation of history and music. His
philosophy, with its vertical as well as horizontal perspective,
is a spill-over of music into other art forms and the incorporation
of them into one Gezamt Object. And it spirals into the
authentic source materials of music. His statement that "Music
must be transcendent and stretching out across its own borders"
describes this. He has a seat in several organizations and projects,
the best-known one being the OKO (Overleg Kunsten en Organisaties),
in which he is one of the board of Directors.
When he told
me the story of how, as a young Director, he stoked up the courage
to have a wire grating and iron gate removed that separated the
De Bijloke music hall from the other buildings and those activities
taking place at the time on the De Bijloke field, I immediately
saw the prophetic in his endeavor. He called it his "symbolical
deed". After that he went on to erect with others the
PKP platform (Stage and the Arts Platform) that has served
as a venue for the performance artists to broaden their scope.
It also invited new initiatives and stimulated research. These
two practical and creative initiatives can be viewed, too, as
symbolic of the growth the De Bijloke Music Centrum has achieved
during the past 10 years. It has demolished borders effectively
within its own domain and there's an active, practical, outward
reaching energy that seeps from it today. The Centrum, located
on the banks of the Leie River and beautifully situated in a historic
complex of old buildings, has become a cultural ‘cluster’
for the performing arts, not common in present day Europe. It
houses educational activities, presents live performances, engages
in experimental projects, maintains a heritage museum, collects
antique musical instruments, and provides training in musicology,
among other things. And what's more, today it possesses the latest
equipment to serve the demands of contemporary productions. In
the past six years top musicians have passed the revue in steady
flow and have been revitalised on their way to international recognition.
As our 'on tea'
exchange continued, more topics surfaced. There were the dramatics
of the slow growth of the Centrum, the new building, the refurbishing
and improvements made to the acoustics of the music hall, the
opening of the long-awaited classy bistro with its terrace looking
out over the age-old apple and pear trees, the meetings with architects,
delays in building procedures, etc. I realised what an achievement
it is for him and his staff, who often put in more working hours
than they are paid for, to have had the concert programming stay
on course during all the period of instability and building rubble;
and also what the task of a General Director really involves.
And how it is incorpurated into so many forces that need in place
for a Director to function properly. The Director is the one who
has to have 'the show going on' but it is his staff, the muscicians,
the podium builders and even the cleaning staff that help him
and they are indispensable to the whole process. The enormity
of a multitude of 'little' tasks must be maddening. Even during
the tumult of restoration and refurbishment, the emphasis has
always been on delivering programs that have authenticity; and
fundraising efforts did not slacken, nor did the efforts to sustain
audiences. At one stage he had to play "budget watchdog
over the 24 million Euros granted by the City of Ghent for the
renovations of the Centrum", he told me. And he and
his staff had to have technical discussions and meetings, with
consents given; and meetings where grave decisions were made with
directives for responsible implementation; and all the while they
had to see to it that the convivial atmosphere in the Centrum
stay intact.
"…
We installed the 'hardware' (refurbishment), but our 'software'
(the concerts) had to be running at the same time. And don’t
forget, we are a receptive organization and not a Production House.
It's all about the unlocking of the heritage of Western Civilization
…," he remarked with enthusiasm and it occurred
to me that he was, by talking about the diversity of task division,
in fact busy answering methodically every single question I had
on my three pages of questions which I hadn't had the time to
look at since we started our discussion! He had sensed the issue
and reason for my calling. There was déjà vu in
the atmosphere between us. His intuit was clear. He has that cunning
sensitivity a good Director leading a Music Centre and being the
face of all the people that work in the background cannot go without.
The topics on the three pages ... attitudes in managing concert
centres, required attitudes, projects with perspective, future
projects, mergers and feasibility, proclamation of managing styles,
mergers of urgent practicality, comparisons with Music Halls in
Belgium … the Benelux … France … Europe, distinct
and specific touches of convivial homeliness in dealing with the
public, co-operation initiatives, dialogue, international acclaim
and reality factors, etc. - he knows about them all and he was
orchestrating the answers to my questions, one by one.
"International
acclaim and the reality check … what does the word ‘international’
mean? Everybody seems to use the word as if it’s a magical
term securing successes...", he commented and offered,
hitting home: ‘It means to be able to have impact on
the performer’s career internationally. It is wrong to pursue
the attitude of looking to see what is hot or hype internationally
and then hasten to bring it to a concert hall just to be in on
the in-scene. (This is sadly the case with many classical
concert venues - Ed). And neither should the giving of subsidies
to local musicians to perform abroad be the case. It is a very
unhealthy perspective. The whole issue is about wanting to have
impact on the authenticity of a performer … on the content
of his work."
I reciprocated:
"It’s a question of dialogue and substance. Of
dialogue which is constantly in restrictive transition. Music
Halls have to have a far greater tolerance towards composition
than what has been apparent in recent years." And I
thought of an exciting example of this I encountered in Germany
recently - the opening of this year’s season of the Kölner
Oper which has synchronised its programming in such a way (inviting
the Press in conjunction with the Oper am Rhein on one single
invitation card) that three different Premiers could be visited
in the three different cities on three consecutive nights. The
message these two Opera Houses is sending out is one of dialogue
and international feasibility. And the public is enthralled by
it.
"Could
such a daring move be possible in the city of Ghent with its many
main, still very separate, venues for classical music and opera?
Would a ‘merger’ (or at least a co-operation) of all
venues not attract more international exposure and acclaim and
drive the needle deeper into the veins of tolerance and authentic
honesty? I know this is hypothetical, but what initiative could
de Bijloke take to facilitate this? Are there any concrete initiatives
regarding this on the table of the De Bijloke already? The drive
towards the incorpuration of the right perspective and definition
of the concept 'internalional? Can you tell
me more about the Graupner project?",
I asked.
"Yes,
and this is an example, we are fully engaged presently in the
Christoph Graupner
project." he said, "It is a collaboration
between the Conservatories of Stuttgart, Germany and Ghent, Belgium
and involves a kind of ‘Googly Search Robot’ research.
It will work like an 'online encyclopedia' and allow historical
data access. The context of the various 18th century compositions
will also be accessible. And a further dream is to bring in sound.
Florian Heyerick (Belgium) is writing a Doctor’s thesis
about this, the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin co-operates
with the orchestral side and Anke Dille from the Conservatorium
of Stuttgart is leading the project. All those engaging in this
project have 'international impact' on each other ... having impact
on careers, forwarding possibilities, not exploiting careers,
that is the issue. We try to judge which musicians or
ensembles have substance and bring these musicians into visibility
by helping them create a chart for their own development ... and
we are having impact on their careers ... and we provide a platform
and space for them to perform. We help prepare their international
expansion. As more examples, I refer to
Graindelavoix and the successful performance in which Nicolas
Achten of Scherzi Musicali
worked together with Emma Kirkbi. (See
Emma Kirkbi in NYC - Diedo's Lament, Purcell - Ed.) We try
to reach for top, authentic quality in performance and we hope
to have a continuity of it in the future as well. We want to have
a homespun joviality in the Centrum in which professionalism speaks
for itself."
"And
the audiences, what do you expect from them? I have noticed that
most of the concerts of November Music were almost full seated."
"We
see to it that our pricing of tickets stays democratic and don’t
make any difference in our pricing of concerts by well known and
acclaimed musicians and less known musicians and compositions.
Potential is the guiding factor, not pricing and popularity. We
want the public to be optimally involved and as engaged as we
are. We have the concert series Musica Antiqua, Voix Gras, Exploration,
Jazz, and Symphonic ... covering the whole spectrum of music.
This satisfies everyone's taste."
"And
what happens when you make a mistake and program an ensemble that
doesn't seem to have that 'authenticity' you first thought?"
"A
Director must be in the position to be able to make a mistake
... the ensembles he program reflects his ability not to make
mistakes."
I thought of
the concept ‘core business’ and how the De Bijloke
Music Centrum already works with other venues of music locally
- the Flemish city of Ghent has more classical concerts each year
than probably any other city in Europe. There’s the Handelsbeurs,
the Vooruit, the Ghent Jazz festival, the Festival van Vlaanderen
and the Centrum's recent contract of co-operation with the Conservatorium
and Hogeschool Gent. Once again the complexity of the job of General
Director, and the dynamism needed from the people around him to
fulfil the task struck me. "The business of music and
not that of 'management', which nearly always means over-management
... is the business of the De Bijloke Centrum...,’ I
offered, snd thought, "... so this is what is happening
at this table of the 'hand' ... all the time, talking, discussing,
planning and reaching out towards and with others, everybody working
together in a complex energy field that generates music and its
venues. " The space of his office is the core of a nucleus
in three dimensions - time, action and space, that generates the
return to the source of music. But Yves Rosseel was already aware
of the direction of my thoughts. He had this vision along with
the 'House of the De Bijloke' long before I even got introduced
to the De Bijloke (also 10 years ago) and he and the De Bijloke
and all of his trustworthy assistants and co-workers have come
a long way in making it all come true.
"Yes",
he said, "we have ... its all of us," and smiled
coyly like a humble person.
And then, out
of nowhere, there was the click of my tape recorder stopping.
I now had a copy of two and a half hours of focused and concentrated
discussion between us.
***
"How
the time did fly!" I thought as I left the building.
It was dark outside but the wintry sky had made a beautiful open-air
evening. Soft-toned colours simmered from where the sun had gone
down an hour earlier. I became aware of my respect for the man
I had just had 'tea' with. He has such enthusiasm for what he
does, and is willing to do so much for music, generating great
goodwill in the process. His loyalty to and recognition of others,
present and past, who have helped him make much of his vision
come true is noteworthy. This trait is perhaps the most important
one needed by a General Director.
Argo Spier,
Opera Pages
Consulting editor, Joneve McCormick, USA
ARCHIVE
- March 2010
(Update soon with info Graupner Project - Florian Heyerick/De
Bijloke Music Centrum - March 2010 feature.)
Dutch info - Graupner Project
In 2010 is het 250 jaar geleden
dat de componist Christoph Graupner (1683-1760), tijdgenoot van
Johann Sebastian Bach, overleed. Muziekcentrum De Bijloke Gent
herdenkt samen met Florian Heyerick de componist in tal van concerten.
Tijdens de concertreeks Kantata wordt u verrast door onbekende
cantates van Christoph Graupner. Uit de niet minder dan 1418 kerkcantates
van de illustere componist kiest Florian Heyerick er twee die
passen in de tijd van het jaar en brengt deze op zondagmorgen
met gerenommeerde en jonge muzikanten.
Uitreiking Professor
Eric Suyprijs
De Professor Eric Suyprijs 2010 wordt toegekend aan Florian
Heyerick omwille van zijn jarenlange en baanbrekende inzet voor
de ontwikkeling van een methode voor de ontsluiting van het muzikaal
erfgoed, in het bijzonder toegepast op het werk van de 18e-eeuwse
barokcomponist Christoph Graupner. Deze ontsluiting gebeurt door
lezingen, publicaties, internet, concerten zoals de concertreeks
Kantata!, opnames en bijhorende mediatisering. De plechtige
overhandiging van de Oorkonde zal plaatsvinden tijdens het concert
Kantata! op zondag 14 maart 2010 om 11u. De aan de Prijs
verbonden geldsom gaat naar het project Graupner 2010.
ARCHIVE
- October 2009 - The De Bijloke Music
Centrum in Ghent, Belgium programmed two up and coming Baroque
ensembles for its October 2009 series of concerts and delivered
two most intriguing and fragile ‘storytelling’ concerts.
Le Poéme Harmonique, an ensemble that formed around Vincent
Dumestre beginning in 1997 and which will be performing its creation
Calvary Lamantations in the Miller Theatre of Colombia
University in NYC on the 23rd of January 2010, brings source music
of the early French and Italian repertoire and explores traditional
folk music. It very vividly re-creates tableaux baroques.
On the 13th of October 1990, Le Poéme Harmonique had its
World Premiere in the De Bijloke with its latest creation, a correlative
interpretation of works by the early 17th century composers, Claudio
Monteverdi, Giovanni Trabaci and Marco Marazzoli.
The ‘rediscovering’ of ‘old music’ of
Le Poéme Harmonique combines with punctual poetic interpretation
of the oral tradition and is performed with expressive authenticity
using instruments from the 16th and 17th century – viola
da gamba, theorbe, lute, tjorbino, arpa tripla and beogen. The
ensemble’s large-scale stage productions, such as Le
Bourgeois Gentilhomme (in 2004), a comédie-ballet
by Molière and Lully (stage director, Benjamin Lazar) and
its Baroque Carnival (directed by Cécile Roussat),
an original show combining Italian music with the circus arts
(artists trained at the Centre National des Arts du Cirque) included
enrichment brought by other disciplines, with actors and dancers
joining its singers and musicians in programs of chamber music.
The Carnival Baroque was performed in Berkeley and San
Francisco, USA in 2008.
With its current World creation and the performance of Monteverdi’s
Il combattimento di Trancredi e Clorinda, Trabaci’s
‘Consonanze stravaganzi’ and Marazoli’s
‘La fiera di Farfa’ in the Bijloke, it achieved
new heights. The performance was most fragile, agile and inviting
in the agitated style of the genere temperato that Monteverdi
swore by. The execution of it bordered on a delicate precision.
The imagery that remained with the spectator was that of a mediaeval
market tableau with all its vividness and intrigue. Moteverdi
struggled all his life to reach a perfect subtle portrayal of
the symbiotic co-existence between poetry and music in his compositions
and used the storytelling orchestral tableaux as a medium; with
its performance on the 13th in the Bijloke, Le Poéme Harmonique
achieved a similar correspondence between poetry and music, using
the same medium. It was most intriguing for the spectator to ‘rediscover’
the fact that music and words, in the right dialectical discourse,
tell a story better than any of the ‘stories’ dished
up today on HD Television.
Visit the homepage of Le Poéme Harmonique
Vincent
Dumestre & Le Poeme Harmonique: Una Musica
Il Suonar Parlante, the ensemble around virtuoso Vittorio Ghielmi,
born in Milan, Italy, who is among the world’s best players
of the viola da gamba, performed the Premiere suite en re
mineur and Troisieme suite en re majeur of the 17th
century composer, Antoine Forqueray. The simplicity of the storyline
in Antoine Forqueray’s ‘composite stories’ and
the blatant singularity of their honesty came as a rejuvenating
shock to many spectators on the 8th of October in one of the Music
Center’s more intimate halls, the Kraakhuis. Vittorio Ghielmi
brought to life these two instrumental pieces with such a marked
fragility and subtlety that these ‘beautiful stories’
of so many centuries ago readily assumed the character of the
real.
The audience, consisting not only of die-hard Baroque fans (I
sat next to a modern jazz muscian), was thrilled with the discovery
of the dormant power of the now in the hands of Vittorio Ghielmi
and his Il Suonar Parlante ensemble. The concert was an appropriate
gift to its audience from the De Bijloke, celebrating its 10th
birthday this year. It also illustrates yet again the distinctive
difference the Music Centrum wishes to maintain among other music
halls in the vicinity and neighboring countries, the Netherlands,
Luxembourg and Germany’s Nordrhein - Westfalen. In the past
10 years the De Bijloke Music Centrum has steadily established
itself as one of the most important contemporary centres for the
exploration and discovery of Baroque Music. Vittorio Ghielmi has
performed as a soloist in the most important concert halls of
Europe and the USA with orchestras such as Il Giardino Armonico,
Wiener Philharmoniker, Philharmonic Orchestra, London.
Visit
Vittorio Ghiemi's homepage
Forqueray - La Couperin / Il Giardino Armonico
Argo Spier,
Opera Pages
Consulting editor, Joneve McCormick, USA
NEWSREEL
- September 2009 - The Music Centrum of
De Bijloke in Ghent, Belgium (Flemish part) is one of the first
music halls in this part of Europe to open its 2009 - 2010 Season.
In the first week of September this year it delivered once again
a most interesting and homespun event – the by now much
appreciated traditional day of ‘free concerts’. Eleven
short concerts, ranging form the work of Dowland and Purcell (Ensemble
Scherzi Musicali) and Anton Weberen and Bert Ostyn (Spiegel String
Quartet) to parts of the 4th and 5th Symphonies of Felix Mendelssohn
(Orchestra of the 18th Century), were given and in the smaller
halls, in the category ‘East of Eden’, the sensitivity
of Iranian percussion (Madjid Khaladj) and Indian and Punjabi
religious music (Surjeet Singh) were introduced. Over the past
10 years the Centrum has evolved as a prominent music nuclei in
Belgium and it has become a venue for up and coming young classical
talent worldwide. Its public, too, has become ‘younger’
as the years have progressed, which is one of the best signs of
growth for outlets for classical music.
In contrast to many historic music halls and centra that, all
of a sudden, due to the financial crisis, started to see a deminished
ticket sales, the Bijloke Music Center has almost full house sales
for many more concerts than before. Ticket pricing has stayed
within its well-appreciated ‘democratic level’ range.
This is an incentive to attend concerts, especially for the younger
generation finding it not so easy to get full-time employment.
A younger public has nestled itself where only a few years ago
the public was predominantly made up of pensioners. Classical
music has become a ‘young love’ for many younger classical
music lovers and the energy they bring to the Centrum was very
much sensed on the Open Day of free concerts. The Centrum has
succeeded in a policy through the years to bring Classical music
to the new generation and to develop a fresh, homespun approach
in which families with children feel at home. This is so different
from the overt management policies of other music centra locally
and in the countries surrounding Belgium. Good management is still
interpreted by many as over-management, which is deadening to
a jovial atmosphere.
For the visitor to Belgium, the Music Centrum de Bijloke in the
city of Ghent (only 45 minites from Brussels by train and tram)
has become an attractive item to nudge onto his ‘must see,
must experience’ list of cultural hubs in Europe. Not only
is quality classical music guaranteed, but its pricing policy
and the free events leave one with sufficient money in pocket
to have a meal as well in its new and posh restaurant on the second
floor.
The annual ‘open door’ day in the first week of September
makes it more than worthwhile to grab the opportunity to visit
the Centrum. The public coming to it is predominantly Dutch speaking
(from the Flemish side of Belgium) - it is an ideal opportunity
to get acquainted with the Flemish culture. Most Belgians converse
in 4 languages – Dutch, French, English and German.
* pictures
courtecy ©argospier & lesne
Argo Spier,
Opera Pages
Consulting editor, Joneve McCormick, USA
ARCHIVE
- April 2009
- Since the thorough refurbishing of the Muziekcentrum De Bijloke
that is located in a Medieval complex in the centre of the city
of Ghent, Belgium two years ago, the concert hall has programmed
exciting up-end musical projects and concert series and lends
its facility to well-publicised initiatives, among which is
the now-established Blue Note Festival (contemporary jazz compositions)
in summer. Its latest pre-Easter project is a ‘Lamentation
Week’ that runs from the 31st of March till the 5th of
April 2009.
The prevailing theme of the Lamentation Week’s spectrum
of Antiqua and Modern music is built up around an universal
sorrow, suffering and the loss of definition in general and,
as such, it is a well-chosen, echoing the dire problems that
face the European Community presently - problems such as the
massive influx of ‘homeless’ refugees from across
the African continent, the Eastern Block and the Occident, including
even Pakistan and India. Since the opening of the European borders
in 2000 with the creation and expansion of the EEG, dramatic
changes have taken place inside the European demographic landscape.
And the ever-growing interweaving of various nations into one
unified body hasn’t always brought the merits hoped for
or the promise of a lasting euphoria. A deep, historic sense
of impotence has resulted and is at the moment settling into
European culture; where there was exuberant affluence before,
defeatism and the diaspora of the homeless seem to have become
the reality factors that challenge all layers of societies.
Precisely in this ‘down’ phase of European history,
and the world for that matter, the Bijloke Muziekcentrum programs
its ‘Lamentation Week’ of classical music dealing
with this terrible desolate feeling of conflict that arises
from a sense of alienation. The actuality of the 'theme of the
week’, its ‘hot topic’ news value and the
creative coincidence, with political scheming to end a world
financial crisis, suggest that the Muziekcentrum De Bijloke
is well aware of the nature of the undercurrent supporting the
erzats. With its latest programming, it appears to have the
vision to achieve high contemporary status in the Classical
Music scene and not only achieve fame as a musical outlet by
Belgian standards, but internationally as well. It has taken
on the challenge of reflecting the dire pathos of defeatism.
On the contemporary scene, political developments are watched
and the universal impotence is observed, along with anger over
losses of what was ‘good’ in the past and over what
is considered ‘bad’ at the moment. The on-coming
G20 summit in London, planned for Easter, has already spawned
thousands of people protesting in major cities across Europe.
In London the ‘Put People First’ alliance of 150
charities and unions marched from Embankment to Hyde Park for
a rally to demand action to alleviate poverty, deal with climate
change and create jobs. And in Brussels, in Belgium itself,
in the garages of the Free University ‘people without
papers’ are holding a hunger strike. This week the strike
will be in its 50th day.
The policy that the Director of the Bijloke Muziekcentrum, Yves
Rosseel, has now held steadfastly for several years has resulted
in a constant flow of not only locally renowned artists and
musicians but artists and musicians with international acclaim
as well. And this too is paying off now and contributes to the
Centrum’s growing acclaim outside Belgium. ‘The
Lamentation Week’, arranged by Frederik Styns, Frank Pauwels
and Johan Van Acker, brings music that’s historically
‘old’, along with ‘scores’ that are
‘modern Antiqua’ and contemporary, pure vocal interludes,
and music that has been composed in the cradle of the Christian
culture and religion, true both to Western and Occidental roots.
Attending all or some of the concerts is an excellent opportunity
for those who wish to reflect on the values of human conviviality
and sharing, the challenges of the financial recession we are
in, the effect on it on the ‘man in the street’
and the political implications of how to deal with ‘loss’
that reflects itself growing persentages of inflation. It is
a concert series dealing with ‘being caught up in life’s
turmoil’ and 'finding relief via the expression of sorrow'
- lamentation, Christian tradition.
The high standard of the performances at the Bijloke Muziekcentrum
in the past has resulted, however, in a rush for tickets which
might be the case now with the six concerts of the ‘Lamentation
Week’. Music centres are building upon fundaments of competent
directors with executable visions, constancy in policy programming
and the ability of the musicians and artists to perform with
high standards. All these ingredients are presently in place
in the Bijloke Muziekcentrum.
Argo
Spier, Opera Pages
Consulting editor, Joneve McCormick, USA
Ticket
hot-line +32(0)9 233.68.78
on-line available tickets
bijloke's program
2011
- 2012
Press
information
[Not for publication]
SOPHIE
COCQUYT
Press and general information
sophie.cocquyt@debijloke.be
• Bijlokekaai 7, 9000 Gent
• T +32 (0)9/233 68 78
• F +32 (0)9/225 65 82
Concert
Hall location:
• J. Kluyskensstraat 2, 9000 Gent
| Lamentation
2009 - ‘being caught up in life’s turmoil’
USA
bits
- The Lamentation Week opens with the Settimana Santa
in Corsica, A Cumpagnia (conducted by. Jérôme
Casalonga). And the rest of the week there are concerts
of among others, the Semana Santa in Granada containing
Saetas from the flamenco tradition (sung by Jesús
Méndez with Manuel Valencia playing classical quitar),
Leçons de Ténèbres of François
Couperin and Il seminario Musicale (conducted by Gerard
Lesne en Jonathan De Ceuster, altus) and Christian lamentations
from the Middle-East (sung by Ghada Shbeir) Antiqua. The
closing note of the Lamentation Week is given by young
local talent with Lamentation in the 20th and 21st Century
(conducted by Daan Janssens).
USA bits
- A BBC NEWS headline (European Issue) on the 31st of
March 2009 reports of a 'Hundreds feared drowned off the
coast of Lybia'. More than 300 African migrants are feared
dead after their boats sank off the coast of Libya, the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported.
A few bodies have washed ashore after at least one and
possibly three boats capsized in very high winds. - Humphrey
Hawksley reports.
USA bits - from
13th Century Abbye to Hospital and now to Hyper-modern
Music Nucleus
The
Bijloke Music Complex is one of the most technologically
advanced centres in Flanders today. The opening of the
refurbished New Music Nucleus took place over the weekend
of 6/9 to 8/09, 2007. The 13th Century Abbey where it
is housed is centrally located in the Mediaeval Flemish
town of Ghent in Belgium - 20 minutes with the fast Inter-City
connection from Brussels. It was used for some decades
as a Hospital for the underprivileged and became a Music
Hall in 1958. The renovation and refurbishing of the nucleus
started three years ago.
|
ARCHIVE
- October 2008
- Closing its ‘1001 Night’ 50th anniversary festivities,
the Festival van Vlaanderen programmed two of its most vibrant
and virile concerts with music from Fédéric Chopin
(1829), Antonio Vivaldi (1725) and Franz Schubert (1825). The
performing artists were Elzbieta Szmytka (soprano), Levente Kende
(pianist) and Joshua Bell (violinist). The Recital of Szmytka
and Kende took place in the superbly restored and refurbished
Pacification Hall of the City of Ghent’s 16th century Council
House and in the typical salon atmosphere the Festival has introduced
since it started with the re-takes of the Zimmermann Café
inside the Vlaamse Opera House and now become renowned for. Joshua
Bell, one of the finest young rising violinists of today, performed
with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (consisting of performers
representing 12 nationalities world-wide) in the Bijloke Music
Center. Both concerts confirmed the underlying global vision of
the Festival, with its emphasis on 18th and 19th century music.
These two concerts,
performed with stunning vitality and virtuosity, benchmark the
Festival’s drive for high standards. They will also set
the pattern of expectation for the Festival’s events next
year. Within the short span of a few years the Festival has become
one of the most looked-forward-to festivals in Europe. The energy
and enthusiasm it generates have spread steadily beyond the borders
of Belgium, and it is safe to note, ‘infected’ the
tone and standards of similar festivals elsewhere. It slowly too
is becoming one of the main podia for up-coming artists worldwide
to forward their careers. No longer is it merely a compliment
for them to be invited to perform at the Festival but an important
step on the road of their development.
This evolution will progressively bring tremendous benefit to
both the Festival and its spectators – it will be both easier
and more challenging in future for those responsible for selecting
the performing artists and the spirit of competition will bring
ever higher quality concerts to the Flemish part of the country.
ARCHIVE
- September 2008 -
With the concert Jewels from Bagdad and Beirut on the
24th of September 2008, starring Jahida Wehbe from Lebanon, the
newly renovated Bijloke Music Complex in Ghent, Belgium plays
on the theme of ‘1001 Nights’ now raging Flanders.
The ‘1001 Nights’ event is to celebrate the 50th Anneversary
of the Festival van Vlaanderen and starts on the 13th September
2008 with the Grand Opening, OdeGand, a full day of music with
numerous, world-renowned artists. The Bijloke Complex is making
a noticable and valuable contribution to the exotic expectations
that have emerged in Belgium since the launching of the promotional
campaign of the Festival van Vlaanderen at the close of the previous
season in June 2008.
The laureled
Jahida Wehbe concert with the Osama Abdulrasol Ensemble will run
consecutively with other ‘1001 Nights’ concerts taking
place in all the various provinces of the Flemmish part of Belgium.
This year neighbouring countries such as the Netherlands and Germany
are showing much interest for the happening. Jahida Webhe is closely
ascociated with the Um Kulthum movement and has performed in large
oriental festivals as well as in various happenings in Germany.
In Germany she has worked with Gunther Grass. Osama Abdulrasol
studied western music in the USA.
the
venacular of recognised symbols
Close to 10
000 seats were booked by Classical Music lovers for the inauguration
of the newly renovated Bijloke Music Nucleus in Gent, Belgium
from 6/09 through 8/09, 2007. A marathon of 15 concerts over the
three days featured Polyphony, Philharmonic Symphonic, East of
Eden and Baroque - the same categories offered in the past and
intended for the oncoming season of 2007 - 2008.
hyper-modern
21st Century music nucleus
The festivities
took place inside the renovated Bijloke and in the various halls
connected to it and nearly all concerts drew full seating. Last
minute applications for tickets resulted in disappointment for
many. Throughout the program there was a constant touch of 'symbolic
novelty’, which ran almost like a theme through the various
concertos: the Philharmonic Symphonic 3 of Rachmanininov was a
successful 'new start' for the composer after the mental breakdown
he suffered due to failure of a prior work; the B'Rock ensemble
is making headway towards becoming established after a slow start
last year; the new Steinway was played for the first time; and
the 'Concerto for ‘Clavecimbles, Building and Audience'
of John Cage was performed - all very well-chosen.
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