World exhibition for new music

Belgium has not been the host country of the World Music Days since 1981. The event, organised by the International Society for Contemporary Music, is the annual meeting place for composers, ensembles, and programmers who love new music. For ten days, they attend numerous concerts, lectures, and meetings in, successively,
 Brussels, Leuven, Mons, Ghent, Bruges, and Antwerp.
The Brussels Philharmonic is getting things started on 25 October with work by primarily Belgian composers. The day after, Het Collectief (photo) is playing brand-new work at the conservatory. “We selected four works from an enormous pile of submissions,” Thomas Dieltjens, artistic director and pianist of Het Collectief, tells us.

Dieltjens himself is most looking forward to the solo cello work by the Spaniard Tomás Garrido. His sonata De Lamentatione was composed to commemorate the death of the champion of Catalan culture Joan Claret. “But the three other works are definitely worth it too,” Dieltjens says. “The contrast between the dreamy, new-age-like composition by the Slovene Petra Bachratá and Furia by the Romanian Dan Dediu is enormous. Dediu voices his dissatisfaction about all kinds of political abuses in a long outburst of rage. His music may be very complex, but it is certainly not inaccessible.” By making the rehearsals public, Het Collectief aims to get listeners (and students at the conservatory in particular) excited about new music. “For that same reason we have asked the head of the percussion class to assist in performing Bachratá’s work.”

World Music Days 25 & 26/10, Flagey, Théâtre Marni, Koninklijk Conservatorium/Conservatoire royal, www.worldmusicdays2012.be, www.freeyourears.be