How did you find each other? Did you meet during masterclasses or at the conservatory, were you friends beforehand, or were you looking for a specific instrument to play with?
Violinists Ciska and Ludovic began their violin studies together at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and got to know each other well as friends there. During that period, Ciska was together with clarinetist Emile who was studying in Brussels, and together they decided to study Mozart's quintet with two other fellow students for their chamber music class. The seeds were planted from that moment on to continue as a group through life. After some changes over the years, Karin Broeckhove and Jasmien Van Hauthem also joined the ensemble.
How long have you been playing together? And in which part of Belgium is your ensemble's home base?
The Firgun Ensemble has now existed for five years. In that respect, I think we are quite unique for our age category. The aim is to constantly grow together as musicians and performers. We are all currently living in Gent, which also makes it easy to meet for rehearsals, but also to catch up over a glass of wine.
What was your motivation to participate in this competition?
Since winning the Storioni competition in 2018 gave us many opportunities in the Netherlands, we looked for a way to also gain a foothold in our own country. The Supernova competition is the ideal way to break through that glass ceiling and be able to perform on stages throughout Belgium. We hope that the offering of a range of concerts is the beginning of a larger series of recitals throughout Belgium!
How did you determine the repertoire? And how does this competition repertoire reflect or differ from your usual repertoire?
We approached the final the same way we would approach a concert. We chose to combine familiar work, in this case the first movement from Brahms' clarinet quintet, with unknown gems for our instrumentation; the Rêverie Orientale by Alexander Glazunov and the last movement of the Clarinet Quintet by Tristan Keuris. At a concert, we would also always end with our own arrangement, so we treated the audience at De Singel to an arrangement of Sting's An Englishman in New York. A fun fact is that our regular arranger is Ludovic's father, Luc Bataillie.
Which prize are you most looking forward to and why? The tour, the Klarafestival stage with live radio broadcast or the cd recording?
We are very much looking forward to all the prizes and opportunities that Supernova brings our way! They are all chances that are hugely important in the development of young ambitious ensembles. Playing live on the radio at Bozar is something every classical music student dreams of during their studies! A concert tour through the various CC's gives us the chance to introduce a large audience to our ensemble, the repertoire and the joy of playing that we like to radiate on stage.