Sound of Brussels Orchestra

Welcome to the 20th Klarafestival!

Under the title We Are Now, this special anniversary edition pays tribute to the here and now. No one embraces the magic of the moment more fearlessly than festival artist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Wherever and whatever she plays, this Moldovan violinist and composer sets the stage alight. For her, every concert is a new beginning, a full moment in which anything can happen. Klarafestival 2025 paints a multifaceted portrait of Patricia Kopatchinskaja as a violinist, composer and inspiring presence.

In honour of our 20th anniversary, we are launching a new tradition: for one day, Mont des Arts will be transformed into the Muziekberg /Mont des Musiques. Alongside concerts and performances at various venues, a new ensemble will also see the light. Sound of Brussels Orchestra goes in search of the exceptional sound of our capital.

We live in challenging times, and some of the festival projects reflect on this. At the same time, they demonstrate how much hope can lurk between the notes of a Stabat Mater or a Dies Irae. How music can move and inspire us. For Patricia Kopatchinskaja, music is no abstract matter: ‘Music is there for us to do something with it. Even when it has no concrete message or function, it appeals to us. It wants to be heard. I don't believe in absolute music. Not really.'

Let the celebration begin!

Joost Fonteyne, intendant
Jan Raes, chairman
Chantal Pattyn, network manager

The multitudinous sound of Brussels

How would an orchestra look if it was invented in Brussels? How does Europe’s most cosmopolitan city sound? That is the question that brings together eight Brussels musicians on the first Sunday evening of the year, in the cosy cafeteria of the Vaartkapoen community centre. Klarafestival has invited them to join a long-term project in search of the sound of Brussels, under the inspirational guidance of  Fabrizio Cassol and Adèle Viret. They will create a brand-new repertoire during a week-long residency at the Vaartkapoen.

But first, a meal to get to know each other. Some have already played together or are familiar with each other’s work, but there are new faces. It is also therefore an unusual, perhaps unique, line-up gathered here: oud, kamancheh, electric guitar, electric bass, percussion, guembri, West-African flute and saxophone.  Eight individuals, (at least) as many musical traditions, practices and visions. A cross-section of the hyper-diverse reality of Brussels. How do you bring so many voices together? There is an exciting vibe in the air, curiosity about a new start. While the food is served, the conversations begin. Kaito Winse intones a song. The ice is broken.

The following day, the real work begins. The musicians gather in the Vaartkapoen’s large, light-filled rehearsal room and form a circle on the Persian carpets that mark out the performance area. No time to lose: Fabrizio Cassol asks them to introduce themselves with a brief solo. Except for electric guitar and bass, all the instruments have first to be heard acoustically – each instrument’s naked voice allows one to recognise the immediacy from which each artist is speaking.

‘Come up with just one idea,’ is Cassol’s next suggestion, ‘no more.’ A melody is heard. But finding connections? Choosing a common key signature? We are not there yet. Each world must remain separately audible. A first musical idea holds the group in an endless loop. The bar is high: no room for semi-precision. The phrasing must be replicated exactly, flawlessly synchronised and, above all, everybody must join in the prevalent mood. Only when that is attained is it the next musician’s turn. And that is precisely what it is all about: locating the others, stepping into their musical world, and together creating something new. A collectively formed phrase carries the DNA of each player. For Cassol, these melodic fragments are open doors into the inner self. He encourages the musicians to ‘really open wide every door’.

With this rehearsal, the tone is set for the rest of the week. The modus operandi  includes everything: willingness to listen, respect, precision, creativity, generosity and humility. The concentrated work is regularly interrupted by laughter. During lunch breaks, the musicians strengthen their ties while enjoying a hearty meal. There is much laughter, many hugs. This is not simply a gathering of artists, but also of human beings. 

After the residency’s first phase, Fabrizio Cassol and Adèle Viret move on to another approach. ‘It’s now about everyone together. Just try anything you wish to explore’. The group gets down to some compelling improvising. Ideas flow effortlessly into each other, as if hanging in the air, just waiting to be picked up. It’s immediately clear that the musical material is strong. From this first improvisation, the musicians build a piece that is faithful to the original ideas, but goes further ‘than just a jam session’. Fresh concepts are appearing from everywhere. They are discussing amongst themselves, refining the transitions, occasionally standing by tonalities or troublesome rhythmic structures. Adèle Viret keeps a sharp eye on cohesion.

For a week, listening and respect are central. No leader taking the upper hand, no cliques working in isolation. Everybody is finding their place. Often, someone might decide to briefly sit out, leaving room for an idea to resonate even more clearly. This is a strikingly mature group. Each day we enter the rehearsal room, we are again overwhelmed by new musical worlds and tone colours. And we still hear echoes of earlier ideas, nestling within the whole like pieces of a puzzle.

As soon as a sequence is satisfactory, musicians and Fabrizio Cassol return again to earlier suggestions. No idea is tossed aside, because every idea represents a true intuition. This is how the piece grows: not simply piling ideas one on top of the other, but carefully weaving them together. The musicians are excelling, up there on that narrow tightrope: they are playing entirely in the moment, never losing sight of the structure of the piece. Dixit  Cassol: ‘Emotion takes first place, but you also need structure. Architectural awareness makes the piece stronger.’

The end of the week approaches. Before it is over, the musicians perform an open run-through. The circle, the safe cocoon, in which they privately shared and developed their musical material, breaks open for a concert setting, exactly seven days since they met around a dinner table. They are now ready to share their musical world with an audience of friends, project partners and people from the neighbourhood. About fifty attend this avant-première. And as the concert begins, with the delicate tones of the kamancheh, something moves. The concentration that pervaded the rehearsal room for a week is transmitted to the audience. Something more than just music is in the air. Something like receptivity. An attentiveness that goes further than the purely musical. Humanity.

What the audience hears is something new. The music has its roots in all parts of the city, and far outside it. During the fifty minute trip, the musicians effortlessly reflect the identity of Brussels. The ensemble’s tone is noticeably warm, not least thanks to the pedal work of Vitja Pauwels. Here and there, musicians come together in remarkable duets. Who had thought that kamancheh (Mostafa Taleb) and soprano sax (Alejandra Borzyk) would sound so good together? That is Brussels too: apparent divisions melt in a sincere encounter. Sometimes the musicians find each other in collectivity, sometimes they express themselves in mesmerising solos, such as  Louise van den Heuvel’s on bass. Subtle percussion from Simon Leleux captures the city’s ever-present pulse. Akram Ben Romdhane’s oud and Imane Guemssy’s guembri also provide the groove for the piece, laying rhythms across each other. The composition reflects a courage to challenge, though the basic attitude remains one of generosity. The music pumps, speaks, sings, breathes and whispers. Over one hundred languages are spoken in Brussels. One of them is More, spoken by Kaito Winse. He sings and plays the flute at the same time. Where does the one sound end and the following begin?

Then comes the release. Musicians, team and audience fraternise over a drink. Is this then the sound of Brussels? And do we now have an orchestra? Tongues loosen, there are many voices, many opinions, paired as so often in Brussels with a great willingness to listen. The willingness to hear something very different. A new sound.

Esther De Soomer & Hélène Delaporte 

Translation: Patrick Goddard  

Fabrizio Cassol 

Fabrizio Cassol is a Belgian composer and saxophonist. In 1992, he founded the jazz trio Aka Moon, named after the Aka, a people in Central Africa whose music the trio studied intensively. Later, Cassol was also inspired by different musical cultures through collaborations with musicians such as Oumou Sangaré, Baba Sissoko, U.K. Sivaraman and Doudou N’Diaye Rose. Since 2015, he has led Medinea, a project of Festival d’Aix-en-Provence that brings together young musicians from the Mediterranean region. Cassol has also worked with artists including composer Philippe Boesmans, director Luc Bondy and choreographers Faustin Linyekula, Alain Platel and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.

Adèle Viret 

Adèle Viret is a versatile cellist and composer. In her eclectic projects, she effortlessly moves between improvisation, jazz, and world music, often merging music with disciplines such as dance, literature, and theatre. Her debut project with her Adèle Viret Quartet, Close to the Water, earned multiple accolades, including Jazz Migration (2023) and the Euroradio Jazz Competition (2024). She has collaborated with renowned artists such as Magic Malik, Fabrizio Cassol, B.C. Manjunath, and Amir Elsaffar and has performed on jazz stages across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and Portugal.

Alejandra Borzyk 

Alejandra Borzyk is a Spanish-Belgian saxophonist, composer, performer, and writer based in Brussels. Their work, informed by a feminist perspective, explores the intersections between improvisation, gender, sexuality, and identity. Since 2022, they have led the band ‘bodies’, which has released two EPs and is currently at work on a debut album. In 2023, Borzyk launched a solo performance project that blends saxophone, breathwork, and movement. They also contribute to projects such as I'm Not Done Cooking by pianist Lara Humbert and PASSIO by Maribeth Diggle and Lucie de Saint Vincent.

Imane Guemssy

Imane Guemssy has become a symbol of courage and determination as one of the first women to practice traditional Moroccan Gnawa music, a domain historically dominated by men. With her exceptional talent and passion, she has opened up the rich history of this musical culture to future generations, transcending cultural and social barriers. Since relocating to Brussels, Guemssy has served as an ambassador for Gnawa music in Belgium and across Europe. She performs both as a solo artist and in projects such as Tsoukina, an all-female Gnawa group that arranges traditional songs, and Kokriya, a contemporary female Gnawa-fusion ensemble.

Simon Leleux

Belgian percussionist Simon Leleux specialises in the doholla, darbuka, and other Arabic and Middle Eastern percussion instruments and styles. Active as a soloist, freelancer, composer, and artistic director, he has mastered both technical precision and an extensive repertoire spanning Arabic, Ottoman, Balkan, and Indian traditions. He has shared the stage with artists such as Fabrizio Cassol, Kudsi Erguner, Ross Daly, Ibrahim Maalouf, Khaled Alhafez, Tcha Limberger, Claron McFadden, Ugur Önür, and Ghalia Benali. Leleux is also a founding member of the ensembles spëcht and Auster Loo. In 2021, he released his first solo album, Letter to Levent.

Vitja Pauwels

Brussels-based guitarist Vitja Pauwels developed an early fascination with classical music, jazz, rock, roots, and electronic music. He studied jazz guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and later explored electronics in related research sessions. As a solo guitarist, he released two albums, Day at Half Speed (2019) and Drift By/Sink In (2022), performing at renowned venues such as Flagey, De Roma, Ancienne Belgique, Gent Jazz, and Brussels Jazz Weekend. In 2024, he released the debut album of his band Early Life Forms. Pauwels is also the frontman of Bombataz and has collaborated with artists such as Naima Joris, An Pierlé, Teun Verbruggen, Marc Ribot, and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra.

Akram Ben Romdhane

Akram Ben Romdhane is a Tunisian musician, composer, and teacher. He studied oud at the Higher Institute of Music in Tunis and violin at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels while pursuing a PhD in musicology, focusing on 18th and 19th-century violin practices. At home in diverse musical traditions, including classical, Arabic, jazz, and traditional music, Ben Romdhane has performed with ensembles such as the Cadence Quartet, the Ensemble Orchestral de Tunisie, and the Tunisian Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Aleph Quintet, he contributes his oud playing to the group's fusion of jazz and North African sounds.

Mostafa Taleb

Iranian kamancheh player, composer, and teacher Mostafa Taleb has been based in Brussels since 2016. He served as artistic director of Orpheus XXI, collaborating with renowned musician Jordi Savall. Taleb continuously seeks to merge the traditions of his instrument with contemporary approaches, working with musicians from jazz, folk, classical, and electronic music. He is also co-founder of the ensembles Argha/Nun and About That Magic Circle, which fuse Persian and European musical traditions. His work extends to film and theatre music, and he has released three albums: Chapelle de Verre (2022), Unity (2024), and About That Magic Circle (2025).

Louise Van den Heuvel

Louise Van den Heuvel is a Dutch bassist and composer. In her work, she seeks out innovative sounds through elements from contemporary jazz, electronic music and improvisation. She has shared the stage with artists and bands such as Zwangere Guy, Lander Gyselinck, STACE, Bruno Vansina Trio and The Gallands. She is also a founding member of the electronic jazz trio Dishwasher_. In 2024 she released the debut album of her project Sonic Hug, for which she composed the entire repertoire herself and is assisted for recordings and performances by Hendrik Lasure, Daniel Jonkers and Sam Comerford. Van den Heuvel teaches electric bass guitar at the LUCA School of Arts Leuven.

Kaito Winse

Kaito Winse is a versatile musician from Burkina Faso, now based in Brussels. As a singer and multi-instrumentalist, he effortlessly moves between the calabash, mouth bow, Fulani flute, kora, and the tama, a drum that can mimic the human voice. With his enchanting vocals and storytelling, he conveys timeless messages with the intensity of an opera singer. Beyond his solo work, Winse has collaborated for years with French author Tartar(e) and is a member of the experimental noise-punk band Avalanche Kaito. His debut solo album, KALADOUNIA (2020), was met with critical acclaim, followed by Reele Bumbou (2025), an evocative journey through music and tradition incorporating profound, reflective texts.