klarafestival 2022: explore

unique performances

The extraordinary opera performance Sun & Sea was one of the highlights of the 2019 Venice Biennale and won a Golden Lion. Klarafestival brings this legendary performance, which takes place on an artificial beach, to Belgium on 25, 26 and 27 March. The three creators of Sun & Sea- Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė - choose a path between documentary and fiction, between reality and poetry. They forge theatre, music and visual art into a total experience for which the audience in Venice stood by for hours!

The long conversations between Wim Kayzer and artists, scientists and philosophers in the VPRO series Van de schoonheid en de troost inspired theatre maker Josse De Pauw to create a new performance. Rhapsody is an ode to (out loud) thinking, doubt and not-knowing, because you don't always have to understand everything to feel that it is about something important. De Pauw joins forces with LOD composer Frederik Neyrinck and the ensemble for new music Asko | Schönberg. And you can experience it at its premiere on 11, 12 and 13 March!

Jazz legend Branford Marsalis is the grand master of the saxophone. He played with Sting and Miles Davis, founded the group Buckshot LeFonque and was band leader in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In recent years, he began to focus more upon classical music and he now performs regularly with several of the world’s leading orchestras, among them the Bavarian State Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Klarafestival invites Branford Marsalis to Brussels, where he will play three concerts that demonstrate as many faces of his artistry. 

new stories

Stories tell us something essential about the world, about others. Only in the context of a story do facts acquire meaning. through which stories have we, Western creators, formed an image of the Persian culture? On 17 March, electric guitar quartet Zwerm and music theatre company WALPURGIS will turn their gaze eastwards. In Lalaei, they will explore what new stories are possible today between Disney adaptations of 'One Thousand and One Nights' fairy tales and apocalyptic news reports on the wars in the Middle East.

Not only Edvard Grieg was inspired by Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, but also the Soviet-German composer Alfred Schnittke. At the request of the choreographer John Neumeier, in 1986-1988 he composed a monumental ballet about the Norwegian farmer's son Peer Gynt, who tries to escape reality with lies. On 18 March, the Belgian National Orchestra will bring Alfred Schnittke's modernist ballet back to life. A young team led by Mien Bogaert, with Talitha De Decker as choreographer and Benjamien Lycke as video artist, will pour the story of Peer Gynt and his megalomania into a gigantic video installation.

spring rituals from around the world

Twice a year, night and day are of equal length everywhere in the world, with the sun directly above the equator and the southern and northern hemispheres receiving exactly the same amount of sunlight. This astronomical phenomenon is known as the equinox. For many cultures, these are moments of particular spiritual significance. To mark the spring equinox, Klarafestival in partnership with Bozar is organising a weekend that revolves around spiritual music, with Iranian and Persian music represented as well as Christian traditions.

The programme includes PASSIO (a performance by Muziektheater Transparant and director Luigi De Angelis), the Teheran-born singer Homayoun Shajarian, the tabla and sitar legend Pandit Nayan Ghosh, the Dutch-Finnish trio Peltomaa Fraanje Perkola and the Corsican ensemble A Filetta.

supernova: finale and laureate's concert

After a year's hiatus, Klarafestival and ten Belgian organisations from the world of classical music are looking for the eighth time for young, promising chamber music ensembles: the Supernovas of 2022. In the meantime, the eight semi-finalists have been announced, who will compete on 6 December for a place in the final. Curious about who the two winners of Supernova 2022 will be? Then come to DE SINGEL on 30 January 2022 and give your vote to your favourite ensemble. You will then be able to hear the two winning ensembles at work at the Laureates' Concert on 13 March.