Meyoucyle - Eleanor Bauer, Chris Peck - Ictus

We're currently finishing the last preparations for the premier of Eleanor Bauer and Chris Peck's Meyoucyle on 11/05 at the Nouveau Theatre de Montreuil! Also to be seen later this month at Kunstenfestival des Arts in Brussels!

Eleanor Bauer's newest creation brings together the different poles of her artistic work in a remarkable piece: Meyoucycle , which sounds rather like ‘musical’ spoken with a strange accent. Together with composer Chris Peck, Bauer throws all the ingredients of the musical comedy (song, text, dance, and music) into the blender, resulting in a completely new, hybrid genre. Four performers share the stage with Brussels musical ensemble Ictus. The show is a tribute to the ‘song’, the expressive art form in which poetics directly transport feelings and ideas. As a ‘me-you-cycle,’ the performance is a song cycle written in dialogue between Bauer and Peck about me and you and everything in-between, how we communicate and understand each other. Meyoucycle is a science-fiction concert about ordinary emotions in an age of technological advancement and hyper capitalism.

Marta - Wolfgang Mitterer

It's a real pleasure and honour to join the Ictus ensemble in the creation of a new opera by Austrian composer Wolfgang Mitterer at the Opéra de Lille! Ictus joins a stellar cast of singers in this haunting new opera, called Marta.

In the pit with Ictus at Opéra de Lille.

In the pit with Ictus at Opéra de Lille.

In a world rent asunder by a dreadful melancholy, ruled by a King Arthur who has been rendered powerless, bewildered, some crazy redeemer has made all the children disappear... The only remaining child is the Queen's daughter, Marta, an ageless doll, whose hair is continually being combed by her mother. Within her glass cage, Marta is given over for the adoration of the people: the final vestige of a doomed world. Poised between sleep and fear, between lynching and fires, in the blinding glare of an irradiated world, death is spreading relentlessly.

The premiere will take place on sunday 13/03 with further shows until 21/03 at the opéra de Lille and one reprise in Reims on april 18.

For more info about the opéra and coming performances, click here! 

Counter Phrases with TM+ and Orchestre de Mulhouse

It's an honour and a pleasure to be joining the French ensemble TM+ and the Orchestre de Mulhouse for a new version of Counter Phrases! An original production by Ictus and Rosas, combining video's of Thierry De Mey, choreography by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and music by composers such as Fausto Romitelli, Jonathan Harvey, Luca Francesconi, Steve Reich and others, creating a wonderful blend of music, video and dance.


Here are the performance dates:

05/02/2016 Maison de la Musique, Nanterre

06/02/2016 Maison de la Musique, Manterre

17/05/2016 Philharmonie de Paris, Paris

24/06/2016 La Filature, Mulhouse



Zwerm & Fred Frith!

Zwerm's collaboration with legendary guitarist Fred Frith is finally happening, a project I've been looking forward to for a VERY long time!! We've finished rehearsals and it's an incredible pleasure to work with such an inspiring performer and person. The concert will feature five of our own pieces, with Fred Frith as guest performer, as well as a new piece Fred wrote for the occasion and a solo improvisation.

Rehearsing at Handelsbeurs in Gent.

Rehearsing at Handelsbeurs in Gent.

If you're around come hear one of our three concerts in Gent, Antwerpen or Den Bosch:

05/11 Handelsbeurs, Gent

06/11 deSingel, Antwerp

07/11 November music, Den Bosch

Here's a small audio-trailer:


Fall news!!

After a very busy summer season, that brought me from Germany (Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Acker Stadt Palast, Berlin) to Brazil (Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte) with Oh Mensch guitar duo, followed by an intense tour with soundinitiative with concerts in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia and finally Oslo's Ultima Festival with Zwerm electric guitar quartet, I'm now getting ready for an exciting fall season!

Zwerm will create two new projects this fall, starting with FEU, a dance performance by choreographer Etienne Guilloteau and his "Action Scenique", for which Zwerm will make the music. The premiere will be on october 20th at STUK in Leuven. A second performance will take place at Kaaitheater in Brussels on november 28th. More performances are planned in the spring.

Zwerm is also VERY excited to finally collaborate with legendary guitarist Fred Frith this fall! We'll share a concert with Fred, creating our own compositions and improvising together. Check out this little audio-teaser:

Three performances are planned in deSingel in Antwerp, Handelsbeurs in Ghent and November Music, Den Bosch. Get your tickets now!

05/11 Handelsbeurs, Gent

06/11 deSingel, Antwerp

07/11 November music, Den Bosch

I'm currently writing this from Donaueschingen where the Nadar-ensemble is busy preparing a program with new pieces by Stefan Prins and Michael Beil for the Donaueschinger Musiktage. Always a great adventure! This performance will be repeated in deBijloke in Ghent on december 11.

Also with Nadar will be a performance of Simon Steen Andersen's masterpiece "Black Box Music". An incredible work, not to be missed! Performances will take place in Concertgebouw, Brugge on november 18 and in Sint-Niklaas on november 19. 

I'll perform with Soundinitiative again as well this fall, at the Blundenz Tage for Neue Musik in Austria on november 21.

Lastly I'm very much looking forward to join the Ictus-Ensemble again for a concert together with Wolfgang Mitterer and guitarist Marc Ducret at the Lille opera on november 10!