This year, Klarafestival will be very different from all the previous editions, due to the pandemic that is currently gripping the world.
The challenges and changes that we are faced with today, have made us think and act differently, and the accelerating digital landscape is reshaping business as we know it - and that’s certainly no exception for arts and culture. Klarafestival needed to adapt to this, and this year’s event will be completely digital, with the theme “all is not yet lost” from 13th - 22nd March.
You will be able to enjoy no fewer than 12 audiovisual projects on their revamped website. As usual, you can also enjoy them via Klara: on the radio or through the Klara app, as well as on the website. The performances can also be watched via VRT NU as well as via Proximus Pickx. In addition, nine performances will feature in the programming of the new pop-up culture broadcaster Podium 19 from 25th - 28th March.
With consumers playing a more central role in society today, Klarafestival 2021 will focus on digital innovation to bring this year’s festival to life - exploring undiscovered work, new creations and symbioses of sound and image. While Belgian talent will be setting the tone, they are also pleased to welcome some international guests to the festival. Below are a few of the highlights of this year's festival.
The Belgian baroque orchestra B’Rock is a welcome guest at Klarafestival 2021. They will be opening the digital festival on 13th March at 8pm, together with the soprano of IIse Eerens and Muziektheater Transparant, with music by Georg Friedrich Händel and Wim Henderickx.
The big international guest at Klarafestival 2021 is the STEGREIF.orchester. This youthful Berlin improvisation orchestra, conducted by Juri De Marco, has a unique knack of keeping its finger firmly on the pulse of our times. Live from Berlin on Sunday 14 March!
On 17th March at 8pm, Brussels ensemble Het Collectief will be performing Mahler’s Das Lied Von der Erde, in an arrangement by Reinbert de Leeuw.
"The beauty of Mahler's melancholy could be enjoyed down to the smallest detail”
This is the opening line of a review of Reinbert de Leeuw's refined arrangement of Mahler's ‘Das Lied von der Erde’. In De Leeuw's version for small chamber orchestra, this grand song cycle by Mahler gains in intimacy and eloquence. A dream ensemble with Het Collectief and the singers Yves Saelens and Lucile Richardot.
On 20th March at 8pm, Sonico and Gwen Cresens celebrate Piazzolla’s centennial with “Happy Birthday Piazzolla”. Astor Piazzolla, the grandmaster of the tango, was born 100 years ago. The Belgian quintet SONICO and the accordionist-composer Gwen Cresens pay tribute to the Argentine who managed to revolutionize the traditional tango. A mix of elements from classical music and jazz resulted in timeless classics like Libertango, Oblivión and Adiós Nonino.
