Next week we will begin the rehearsals for music theater performance L'ALQUIMISTA in Barcelona, at the Teatro Nacional de Catalunya. Michael De Cock created and directs a theatre adaptation of the book The Abyss by Belgian writer Marguerite Yourcenar. Lutenist Jurgen De bruyn joins the stage and, together with composer Alain Franco, provides the soundtrack for the story, which is set in 16th-century Europe with a focus on the last years of the Bruges doctor and alchemist Zeno and on universal themes of humanity and freedom in turbulent times.
The premiere will take place on the 11th of May 2023. The tickets are on sale vie TNC.
De Theaterkrant describes The Mass Man as "intriguing musical meditation on mass, power and manipulation".
The full review is available on the website.
We had the pleasure of showing THE MASS MAN to a sold out audience in Concertgebouw Brugge. Prior to the performance, Muziektheater Transparant director Wouter Van Looy and artistic director of Zefiro Torna Jurgen De bruyn shared their thoughts with the audience. They explained how Nobel Prize winner Elias Canetti and his masterly book on the themes of mass and power, medieval crusader songs and film images by Wim Catrysse form the raw material for a gripping music theatre performance.
Theatre critic Johan Thielemans wrote an engaging review.
The CD TIME CRAWLS is out on the label HOMERECORDS.BE and also available on our webshop (> CD).
Zefiro Torna takes us into a timeless universe with a reinterpretation of the 17th century broken consort music. Melodies intuitively created by flute player Jowan Merckx received a new arrangement for flute, violin, viola da gamba, violone, harp and lute by composers Marnix De Cat and Martin Valcke. The new written music bears traces of baroque and traditional music from all over Europe. The music, which is sometime melancholic, sometimes nimble and festive, fascinates by its ingeniously crafted texture and invites to dance.
This autumn, the alchemistic laboratory BALSAM with Laika, Theatre of the Senses will be on tour again. After two series of performances at the Boulevard Festival in Den Bosch and Cultura Nova in Heerlen in August, the team is ready for it! Prepare yourself for a bewitching ritual in which music, scents and flavours immerse you in the shimmering world of alchemy. Besides the Greenwich+Docks International Festival in London and a tour to Portugal and France, BALSAM also passes by a number of Belgian venues.
--> Take a look in the agenda for all dates
Zefiro Torna – ARSENAAL/LAZARUS
For centuries jurisdiction divides what is right from what is wrong. Laws are made to maintain order, and those who seek for chaos will have to appear in front of the blindfolded Lady Justice. We identify her verdict with fairness. The law is the law: it has no feelings. But the contrary is true for justice: it is permeated by emotions. JUST= illustrates this tension in seven scenes. The main characters voor every scene are: religion, power, morality, politics, outcasts, time and the arts. A clash of disciplines will guide you, from elderly people to rappers, from Händel to a silent movie to... And you, dear visitor, will be both witness and cause from all harm.
Willy Thomas, Jurgen De bruyn concept
Sarah Eisa, LAZARUS, Freek Mariën, Tom Lanoye text
Willy Thomas, Jurgen De bruyn, Ruud Gielens staging
Günther Lesage, Pieter Genard, Joris Van Den Brande, Koen De Graeve, Ryszek Turbiasz, Willy Thomas, Charlotte Vandermeersch performance
Charlotte Vandermeersch, Eurudike De Beul, Jonathan De Ceuster, Viermaliks, kinderkoor etc. vocals
Martin Valcke, Händel, Hanns Eisler, etc. music
Ensemble Zefiro Torna o.l.v. Jurgen De bruyn: Annelies Decock, Marrie Mooij, Thomas Luks, Dimos de Beun, Jurgen De bruyn, beiaardiers, Stedelijk Conservatorium Mechelen, Gökhan Girginol, Serdi Faki, etc. music performance
Mathias Ruelle film
Karen De Wolf costumes
Sarah Eisa dramaturgy
ARSENAAL/LAZARUS, Cultuurcentrum Mechelen technical support
commissioned by OP.RECHT.MECHELEN stadsfestival 2016-2018
De Standaard 12.12.2016
Het Laatste Nieuws 19.05.2017
Gazet Van Antwerpen 20.05.2017
De Standaard 22.05.2017
Gazet van Antwerpen 22.05.2017
De Morgen, recensie 25.05.2017