With its 2026-2027 season, Flagey makes a deliberate choice not just for an artistic direction, but for a pronounced cultural positioning. Under the banner of the First Viennese School, the Brussels music venue explores how music from the past remains surprisingly relevant in a world that is once again balancing between uncertainty, geopolitical tension, and the search for stability.

That Flagey chooses precisely the First Viennese School as its guiding principle is meaningful. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert wrote their music at a historical turning point: between Enlightenment and revolution, between aristocratic order and modern citizenship. Their work therefore carries not only formal elegance, but also a deep awareness of social change. The season thus reads as an attempt to use that music to pose new questions about the world of today.

At the center stands Ludwig van Beethoven, whose death in 1827—exactly two hundred years ago next season—is being commemorated. But Flagey is not programming a Beethoven museum. His music appears as a living force: simultaneously rebellious, consoling, visionary, and fundamentally human. The question that implicitly runs through the season is not only musical but also political: what does humanism still mean in an era of polarization, war, and cultural fragmentation? Few composers have captured the tension between individual freedom and collective utopia as sharply in music as Beethoven.

Giltburg completes, Lewis builds on

One of the great pillars of the season will undoubtedly be the completion of Boris Giltburg's complete performance of Beethoven's piano sonatas. The winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2013 has profiled himself in recent years internationally as one of the most deeply felt Beethoven interpreters of his generation, and is now concluding an ambitious trajectory that began at Flagey last season.

He performs as soloist on March 25 and June 6, 2027. Particularly interesting, however, is especially the new concert format with which Flagey is presenting for the first time in Brussels: after an opening section with piano sonatas comes a symphonic segment together with the Brussels Philharmonic (March 26 and 27, June 4 and 5, 2027). That is more than a programming idea. By combining the intimacy of the sonatas with the symphonic dimension of Beethoven's oeuvre and influence, Flagey attempts to make the dramatic arc of his music tangible. In Beethoven, these two worlds are never completely separate.

Paul Lewis will also serve next season as an artist in residence. The British pianist, internationally acclaimed for his interpretations of Beethoven and Schubert, is beginning at Flagey a long-term project on Mozart's piano sonatas, which he will also record there (January 27, 2027). This underscores how Flagey has developed in recent years into an internationally valued recording venue, thanks in part to the exceptional acoustics of Studio 4.

With this programming, Flagey furthermore increasingly confirms its own profile within the Belgian concert landscape. While Bozar often focuses on international prestige projects and De Singel works more strongly in a multidisciplinary manner, Flagey positions itself ever more emphatically as a venue where repertoire, recording culture, jazz, education, and artistic reflection flow into one another.

Uchida, Schiff, and Zimmermann

One of the most striking names on the program is undoubtedly Mitsuko Uchida. Her debut at Flagey on November 27, 2026 can rightfully be called a cultural event. Uchida is regarded worldwide as one of the most important Mozart interpreters of recent decades, but has simultaneously developed a strong affinity with Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School. Her program—Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Schoenberg alongside each other—promises to be more than just a recital. It will be a musical reflection on tradition and innovation, on what composers inherit from their predecessors and what they deliberately leave behind.

What is striking is how frequently Schubert appears in next season's programming. As a transitional figure between classical clarity and Romantic introspection, he may well be the most modern voice of all.

On March 17, 2027, András Schiff devotes an entire recital to Haydn, perhaps still the most underestimated of the great Viennese classics. Frank Peter Zimmermann makes his Flagey debut on April 13 in the company of Ukrainian pianist Dmytro Choni, for their only concert in Belgium this season. Their program confronts Schubert with repertoire from the Second Viennese School and once again places past and modernity in opposition.

Alexander Melnikov completes the list of great pianist names during the Flagey Piano Days with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, together with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (February 12, 2027). Furthermore, the Quatuor Ebène also makes its debut at Flagey. From November 20 to 22, 2026, the renowned French ensemble opens its Beethoven String Quartet Cycle there—music that still ranks among the most visionary that the Western repertoire has produced.

The Flagey Piano Days confirm their position as one of the rare Belgian piano festivals where international top pianists do not pass through as isolated stars, but are placed within a carefully developed program.

From February 10 to 14, 2027, Flagey gathers diverse pianistic voices once again. Roman Borisov and the Quatuor Modigliani open with Debussy and Franck (February 10, 6:30 PM), while Marc-André Hamelin combines Weinberg, Debussy, and Chopin later that evening. Jonathan Fournel joins the Brussels Philharmonic on February 11. Lucas and Arthur Jussen bring Bach, Brahms, and Gershwin together on one program, while Katia and Marielle Labèque close with miniatures by forgotten female composers alongside Mendelssohn, Fauré, and Ravel.

Particularly noteworthy is the tribute to Philip Glass, who turns ninety in 2027. Vanessa Wagner, Danae Dörken, and Pascal Schumacher place his minimalist aesthetic in a contemporary context. This too is telling: Flagey uses the festival not only to celebrate the canonical piano repertoire, but also to continually question its boundaries.

Jazz without borders

Jazz also receives a prominent place again within the season. The Brussels Jazz Festival (January 14-23, 2027) chooses Dutch bassist Louise van den Heuvel as artist in residence—someone who effortlessly navigates between jazz, electronics, and improvisation. Her residency encompasses three entirely different projects: a concert with Kit Downes, Otis Sandsjö, and Sun-Mi Hong (January 15), an immersive listening experience with brunch together with Bert Cools (January 17), and new work with her ensemble Sonic Hug (January 21). That these projects differ so greatly from one another is not a lack of focus but precisely the point. Van den Heuvel demonstrates how open and hybrid the concept of jazz has become today.

Jazz also reclaims a prominent place in the season. The Brussels Jazz Festival (January 14–23, 2027) has invited Dutch bassist Louise van den Heuvel as artist-in-residence—a musician who moves seamlessly between jazz, electronics, and improvisation. Her residency features three distinctly different projects: a concert with Kit Downes, Otis Sandsjö, and Sun-Mi Hong (January 15), an immersive listening experience with brunch alongside Bert Cools (January 17), and new work with her ensemble Sonic Hug (January 21). Far from signaling a lack of focus, these contrasting projects make a larger point. Van den Heuvel demonstrates how expansive and hybrid the notion of jazz has become today.

International names are equally well represented. Tunisian oud player and composer Anouar Brahem continues his subtle dialogue between Arabic musical traditions and European world jazz on October 8, 2026. His work on the ECM label has made him a key figure in contemporary world jazz over the past decades. L'Antidote also brings a decidedly intercultural project, featuring Iranian percussionist Bijan Chemirani, Lebanese pianist Rami Khalifé, and Albanian cellist Redi Hasa (October 29, 2026). For Flagey, the concert marks one of only two Belgian stops on the tour.

Also particularly meaningful is the fiftieth anniversary of the Lundis d'Hortense. Since 1976, the organization has played a crucial role in the development and international reach of the Belgian jazz scene – an achievement that cannot be overstated in a country that has produced so much remarkable jazz talent in recent decades. The anniversary concert on October 1, 2026 features a carte blanche for Nathalie Loriers and her project 1, 2, 3 Piano, followed by the Belgian Jazz Ensemble with Tutu Puoane.

The season concludes with two concerts that explicitly center female artistic voices. Both Children of Simone (May 28, 2027) and Dee Dee Bridgewater (May 31, 2027) reinterpret the legacy of Nina Simone and Max Roach from a contemporary perspective.

Bach, Goldberg, and the Next Generation

Early music enthusiasts will also find plenty to enjoy. Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent present Bach's Christmas Oratorio on December 15, 2026, in the lead-up to the holidays. Flagey also shines a spotlight on Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, the harpsichordist after whom Bach's famous Goldberg Variations were named and who was born three hundred years ago in 2027. Both TrioFenix (October 16, 2026) and guitarists Thibaut Garcia and Antoine Morinière (October 20, 2026) present fresh perspectives on this keyboard masterpiece.

As in previous seasons, Flagey continues to invest heavily in young talent. Within the Picnic and Young Wolves series, several winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition will perform again, including Valère Burnon, Uladzislau Khandohi, Mirabelle Kajenjeri, Sergey Tanin, and Arthur Hinnewinkel. Internationally acclaimed young musicians like Dmitry Shishkin will also be featured.

Projects such as Academix, Piano & Sand, and collaborations with El Sistema and ReMuA aim to introduce children and young people actively to music – in this too, Flagey increasingly sets itself apart from a traditional concert hall.

More Than a Concert Hall

The 2026-2027 season ultimately shows how Flagey today is far more than just a concert hall. The iconic art deco building at the Ponds of Ixelles – originally designed as a radio building – is increasingly becoming a cultural gathering place where classical music, jazz, film, education, and social reflection intersect. Festivals such as Anima, Klara Festival, the Brussels Short Film Festival, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, and Festival Musiq3 confirm its central position within the Belgian cultural landscape.

Flagey presents Beethoven not as a reassuring monument from the past, but as a composer who, two hundred years later, still poses uncomfortable questions.