Classical music from Belgium at Classical:NEXT 2017
From Wednesday 17 until Saturday 20 May, Flanders Arts Institute will be present at the international music fair Classical:NEXT in Rotterdam. After previous editions in Munich (2012), Vienna (2013 & 2014) and Rotterdam (2015 & 2016), Classical:NEXT has grown into a valued and interesting event that brings together all important actors from the classical music sector.
Together with WBM (Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques), Flanders Arts Institute will coordinate a large stand where the Belgian delegates (concert halls, ensembles, labels etc.) can meet up with their international colleagues. This way, we aim to help the professional actors from the classical music sector to realise their international ambitions.
Classical:NEXT was born out of the idea to bring the diverse scenes of classical music together and offer them a forum to exchange and develop new ideas around classical and contemporary – or in a wider sense – art music. Since then, around 3,000 art music professionals representing 1,000 companies from more than 45 countries have engaged with Classical:NEXT and made it into the world’s most important classical music meeting.
Showcase by electric guitar quartet Zwerm
Next to coordinating the Belgian stand, we will be supporting the ensembles and organisations that have been selected for a showcase concert or pitch presentation.
So far, one Belgian ensemble – electric guitar quartet Zwerm – has been announced for the showcase programme: musicians Bruno Nelissen, Johannes Westendorp, Kobe van Cauwenberghe and Toon Callier take modern electric guitars and pedals and time-travel back to the English renaissance. There – armed with advanced performance gadgetry – they tackle the works of Tallis, Dowland and others.
Additionally, two Belgian projects will be presented as part of the conference programme: ‘And You Must Suffer’ (Wim Delvoye) and ‘Earth Diver’ (Wouter Van Looy / Wim Catrysse).
Classical:NEXT Fellowship Programme
Last year, the first Classical:NEXT Fellowship Programme for young composers and performing artists took place. Each fellow is paired with a seasoned professional and Classical:NEXT veteran. The mentors introduce these emerging professionals to the community (and vice versa), bringing them into personal contact with relevant individuals and companies as well as offering advice. The fellows are also represented online at the year-round contact platform C:N NET.
The Fellowship Programme will return in an expanded format for Classical:NEXT 2017, including round-table mentorings reserved especially for the Fellows, special pre-event workshops and preparation meetings. Flanders Arts Institute is one of the five partner institutions for this year’s programme. The Flemish participants for the programme are Julie Daled (neoScores NV / Gustaf), Bert Helsen (HaftCraft Ensemble) and Pieter Schuermans (LUCA School of Arts).
The other partner institutions of the Fellowship Programme are the University for Music and Performing Arts (Graz, Austria), Codarts (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), APRA AMCOS / Australian Music Centre, (Ultimo, Australia) and PRS for Music Foundation (London, UK).
An overview of all Belgian delegates can be found here.
Classical music from Flanders – online special
Explore a new online special on classical music from Flanders & Brussels and get introduced to a broad spectrum of artists and organisations, read expert essays on early and contemporary music and listen to a selection of contemporary tracks while browsing through these portraits and longreads.
Fingerprints #2 CD
Listen to 25 compositions from 23 contemporary classical composers who set their stamp on the classical music of today. Signatures from composing Flanders is the second Fingerprints CD and highlights contemporary music for national and international music professionals and for classical musical enthusiasts. This edition is the result of a project initiated by Componisten Archipel Vlaanderen (ComAV) for the promotion of contemporary classical music in Flanders.
