Playground for the musical adventurer
Anyone who enjoys classical, jazz and world music can have their fill during Walden Festival. 'Brussels with its different cultures is a wonderful source of inspiration for the programme', says artistic director Joost Fonteyne. In addition to the diverse musical programme, the short concert formats of around 30 to 40 minutes and the hidden green and architectural gems also provide a rich musical discovery menu. The main stage is set in the garden of the Natural History Museum and the beautiful art-nouveau Solvay Library is transformed into a piano room, but the magnificent belle époque hall Espace Senghor, the garden of the Wiertz Museum and the Lyceum Emile Jacqmain also open their doors. Top of the bill is Joep Beving, composer-pianist and poster boy of neoclassical music, who closes on Saturday on the main stage. After his debut album Solipsism in 2015, he joined Deutsche Grammophon. He is featured in numerous minimalist Spotify playlists and fills both Bozar and the Ancienne Belgique without any problem. His contemplative and minimalist music, inspired by Philip Glass, Keith Jarrett, Sigur Rós and Radiohead, among others, clearly transcends genre boundaries. The minimalist tone of the day is set by Brussels Philharmonic and Lorenzo Gatto under the direction of conductor Tom De Cock, who open the festival with the energetic Violin Concerto No. 1 by Philip Glass and The Chairman Dances by John Adams.The greener, the better
It is no coincidence that Walden Festival pitches its tents for the third time in one of Europe's greenest capitals. Moreover, the festival refutes the saying that festivals and sustainability are incompatible by committing fully to it. These efforts were recognized with a nomination for the visit.brussels Awards in the Sustainable Initiative category and for the A Greener Festival Awards. This year too, Walden Festival aims to keep the ecological footprint as small as possible in terms of food (vegetarian catering) and drink (no plastic cups, purified drinking water in collaboration with Robinetto), transport (transport by electric cars and cargo bikes, encouraging artists to travel by train) to decoration (recycled furniture). Last year visitors could donate a tree worth €2 to the European Festival Forest, this year the festival is working with BOS+ on a planting project with Brussels youth centres.Slow is the code word
At Walden Festival, visitors find peace by enjoying the music with a drink in hand and relaxing in one of the green urban oases or beautiful indoor venues. Even those who cannot attend can enjoy Walden Festival through reports, interviews and exclusive musical moments via Klara radio or VRT MAX on Saturday from 6pm to 10pm and on Sunday from 2pm to 8pm. Katleen van Bavel not only presents the Klara radio programme Walden, she is also host at the festival and invites radio listeners to slow down together with slow-radio during the festival.Tickets and information via www.waldenfestival.be