Belgium: Flanders: May 2006 Report

Bernard Foccroulle to Head International Opera Festival, Aix-en-Provence

Bernard Foccroulle will become the new director of the International Opera Festival of Aix-en-Provence. Foccroulle is an internationally renowned organ player and composer. In June 2007, after 15 years of service, he will leave his post as general manager of the Royal Theatre La Monnaie.

Bernard Foccroulle was born in Liège in 1953. After completing his organ studies, he perfected his skills with Xavier Darasse, Bernard Lagacé and Gustav Leonhardt, and worked together with Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Henri Ledroit, Philippe Pierlot and Jean Tubéry.

His career as a concert musician shifts between the two poles of contemporary music and early music. His discography with solo performances adds up to more than 30 CD recordings, most of which have been awarded prizes.

In January 1992, he succeeded Gerard Mortier as director of the Royal Theatre La Monnaie, one of the foremost operas of the international scene. He attracted Antonia Pappano and Kasushi Ono as musical directors, and programmed a wide repertoire, ranging from Monteverdi to the classics of the 20th Century. He invited some of the greatest directors, attracted many artists and had the opera thrown open for the most varying and modern artistic disciplines.

Since 1998 La Monnaie and the Festival of Aix-en-Provence have maintained strong relationships. La Monnaie has been invited by the Festival with several operas, and vice versa.

Until June 2007, Foccroulle will combine the two functions with La Monnaie and the Festival. Starting from July, he will devote himself fulltime to the Festival. In this capacity he will be able to stipulate the artistic policy and prepare the next editions of the Festival. For more information, visit: www.demunt.be.

Foundation of ISCM – Flanders

On 8 December 2005, the inaugural meeting of a new organisation took place: ISCM – Flanders. It was founded in the presence of about 50 professionals of the contemporary music scene and has as its main goal the promotion of contemporary music. ISCM Flanders strives to be a platform for everyone concerned with contemporary music: composers as well as ensembles, documentation centres, journalists, musicologists, concert organisers...

ISCM is short for International Society for Contemporary Music. This international organisation (with Belgium as one of its members) was founded in 1923 and has about 50 national sections worldwide. Its annual meeting takes place during an international festival for contemporary music, organised by one of the national sections.

The Belgian national section, ISCM – Belgium, was founded in 1924-25. In 1930 and 1950, Belgium was the host country of the international festival. After the festival of 1950, the Belgian section ceased to exist. In 1972, ISCM – Belgium was re-founded by André Laporte, Pierre Bartholomée and Herman Sabbe. In 1981, Belgium was again the host country of the World Music Days.

Today, André Laporte is still chairman of the national section, which means he yearly submits music scores and represents Belgium at the annual meetings. The Walloon part is currently represented by Christian Renard. Therefore, ISCM Belgium receives state subsidy both from the Walloon and the Flemish Governments. Next year, André Laporte will resign as chairman of ISCM Belgium.

Because of recent changes in the bylaws of ISCM, other societies can now apply to become associated members. In addition to composer societies, orchestras, ensembles and documentation centres are now eligible. Therefore André Laporte and Peter Swinnen proposed to establish an independent ISCM – Flanders. As an associated member, Flanders will have the opportunity to reinforce its position in the international music scene. Its main objective will be to organise activities that promote contemporary music in Flanders.

And who knows... Perhaps Flanders will even act as host country for the World Music Days? For more info about ISCM international, visit: www.iscm.nl. For questions regarding ISCM, Flanders please contact Peter Swinnen: voorzitter@iscm-vlaanderen.be.

Rock Werchter Wins Award for Best Festival

For the second time in three years, Rock Werchter was awarded the ILMC Arthur Award for Best Festival. The award is traditionally handed out during the ILMC, the International Live Music Conference. This is an international get-together of the live-music industry where more than 2500 professionals from all over the world can vote.

Rock Werchter already won the title of Best Festival in 2004. Other winners this year were Ahoy in Rotterdam, chosen as "Best Concert Hall" and U2, winning the prize for "Best Tour". For more information, please visit: www.ilmc.com or www.rockwerchter.be.

European Showcases @ SXSW 2006

On 16 March, 12 bands from across Europe performed at this year's South By Southwest (SXSW), probably the biggest and most important showcase festival in the U.S. For 3 days in a row, the city of Austin (Texas) was overrun by a multitude of bands, artists and music lovers.

The European showcase night was presented by EMO (European Music Office), and was made possible thanks to the cooperation between European platform members (European Music Export Offices), artists and label partners, as well as the co-sponsors eMusic, Sonicbids, SanDisk and the New Orleans Musician's Relief Fund with support from the Louisiana Music Export Office.

Flanders Music Centre was one of the supporting partners, and very proud to see dEUS (Antwerp) perform as headliner of the European showcase night. Also Girls in Hawaii (Brussels) was one of the bands showcasing the latest trends of the Old Continent.

A free 15-track compilation CD was put togeth?er for the occasion, and handed out to promote the latest generation of European talents.

The following bands performed at European showcase night:

Flanders Music Centre
(info@muziekcentrum.be)

Submitted by Belgium Flanders on 5 June, 2006 - 20:43
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