Brussels/Antwerp, May 4, 2022 – On Tuesday, May 10, the Flemish Community will present the Ultimas 2021 during a live show at deSingel. The Flemish cultural prizes will be awarded to 13 laureates, in as many categories, in recognition of their merits in the socio-cultural sector. Actress and theatre icon Reinhilde Decleir receives the Ultima for General Cultural Achievement as the crowning achievement of her career. The Ultima Music goes to soprano Lieselot De Wilde
About the Ultimas
The tradition of awarding Flemish cultural prizes began in 2003. Since then, the Flemish government has awarded 12 prizes each year, in as many categories, to leading artists, creators, organisations or companies. The laureates are chosen by a panel of experts.
In the 2021 Ultimas edition, an Audience Prize is being added for the first time, for artists or organisations who contributed to the broadening of culture in the past year, but who do not immediately fit into the existing Ultimas categories. The winner of the Audience Prize will be revealed during the award show.
All laureates will receive a physical award on May 10. For the occasion, it has been given a new look by visual artist Daan Gielis (°1988). In addition, each laureate receives a prize money of €10,000. An exception to this is the winner of the Ultima for General Cultural Achievement, who receives a sum of €20,000 as a reward for an entire career.
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Ultima Music: Lieselot De Wilde
The jury puts forward Lieselot De Wilde as laureate for the Ultima Music 2021.
Soprano Lieselot De Wilde obtained her diploma from Dina Gossberger and Katelijne Van Laethem at the Lemmensinstituut with great distinction. Lieselot is a very versatile singer who performs diverse music: from medieval to contemporary compositions. She loves creative and adventurous projects where she can express her other passions such as theatre, poetry and improvisation.
Together with jazz guitarist Peter Verhelst, she forms the core of the ensemble Bel Ayre, which was named a Selected Promising Ensemble at the Festival Laus Polyphoniae (Antwerp) in 2011. With pianist Gabi Sultana, she forms a duo for improvisation and creation of contemporary music.
Lieselot works with LOD muziektheater in the productions Muur, Meneer Afzal, Huis der verboden muziekjes and L'Inconnue de la Seine, and through this had the opportunity to collaborate with Spectra, Asko/Schönberg, Lucelin, Dick van der Harst, Dominique Pauwels, Thomas Smetryns, Pieter De Buysser, Inne Goris, Frederik Neyrinck and many others.
Besides, she is a much-requested singer for creating contemporary music by composers such as Frank Nuyts, Dick van der Harst and many others. She was one of three soloists in the opera The Wasp Factory by Icelandic composer Ben Frost and toured with it to, among others, Bregenzer Festspiele, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ.
With early music ensembles Psallentes, Chœur de Chambre de Namur and Encantar, she recorded various albums. She also performs as a guest with ensembles such as Zefiro Torna, Vox Luminis, Canto LX and the Norwegian Solistenkor. She maintains a close collaboration with Korneel Bernolet and his ensemble Apotheosis and recorded an album with them featuring 'Cantates Françaises' by Nicolas Bernier on the Etcetera label. Bel Ayre also released an album featuring Neapolitan 'Canzoni Popolari' (popular songs).
In 2014, she was selected for the prestigious Lucerne Festival Academy where she sang as the first soprano soloist in Luciano Berio's Coro under conductor Sir Simon Rattle. Lieselot also became a laureate of the Dexia Axion Classics competition with a first prize.
Even when the coronavirus pandemic struck in full force in 2020, Lieselot managed to take us on a world tour with her multimedia project Around The World in 72 Songs. With this project, Lieselot emphasised the power of music as a universal language and wanted to promote female singer-songwriters. She continued her success story in 2021 with another highlight Cupid and Death, a production by the internationally award-winning Ensemble Correspondances.
In the near future, she will create the role of poet Arthur Rimbaud in Dominique Pauwels' first opera L'Autre Hiver (LOD muziektheater) for the OPERA XXI festival. She is also currently working on the Figurines project, which will be a series of artworks and performances in which she addresses artistry and the human condition from her personal and female perspective. The project will premiere next year at Concertgebouw Brugge, as part of their maker trajectories, in which De Wilde will participate over the coming two seasons.
The jury hopes that the Ultima for this talented soprano will be an incentive to continue her rich career in all its versatility.
"The career of the Flemish vocal artist, performer and maker Lieselot De Wilde brims with boundless versatility and creativity. She performs with early music, contemporary music, songs, music theatre creations and her own creative projects."
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