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.
30-08-2021:
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 -- reframing early music
The vocal-instrumental ensemble Zefiro Torna brings to life the cultural heritage from the middle ages, renaissance and baroque in a unique way. The ensemble does not limit itself to a merely historical approach but combines it with other musical traditions, as well as literature, science, philosophy and current art expressions in the field of fine arts, theatre and dance. This results in fascinating pieces of ‘Gesamtkunst’ around a variety of symbolic or allegorical themes.
Therefore, the ensemble entered into dialogue with individual artists, directors, choreographers, composers and performers as Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Bram Bosteels, Brody Neuenschwander, Dick van der Harst, Ghalia Benali, Ief Spincemaille, Jeroen d’Hoe, Martin Valcke, Mauro Pawlowski, Sigrid T’Hooft, Stefaan Degand, Stevie Wishart, Timo Van Luijk, Tom Hannes and with ensembles as Abattoir Fermé, ARSENAAL/LAZARUS, Antwerps Kathedraalkoor, Figurentheater De Maan, Frank Vaganée Trio, Ialma, LOD, Pantalone, Psallentes, Ultima Thule, Vlaams Radiokoor/Hervé Niquet, Vocalconsort Berlin, ZOO/Thomas Hauert.
Through this approach, Zefiro Torna has gained international renown. The ensemble is a welcomed guest in prestigious (inter)national concert venues as Amuz, Bozar, Concertgebouw Brugge, De Bijloke, De Singel, Flagey, Handelsbeurs, Kaaitheater, Muziekgebouw aan ‘tIJ Amsterdam, Philharmonie Haarlem, Radialsystem V/Berlin, Vredenburg Utrecht, Wilminktheater Enschede and art and music festivals as Brosella, Charleroi Danses, Festival de Wallonie, Festival van Vlaanderen-Mechelen, Klarafestival, Laus Polyphoniae, MAfestival Brugge, Zomer van Antwerpen, Banchetto Musicale/Vilnius, Biennale Alter Musik/Konzerthaus Berlin, Concentus Moraviae, Festival de Musica Antigua de Sevilla, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Festival Seviqc-Brezice Slovenië, Frysk Festival, Gergiev Festival Rotterdam, Internationale Orgelwoche Nürnberg, Landshuter Hofmusiktage, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Operadagen Rotterdam, Theaterfestival Boulevard ’s-Hertogenbosch en Zeeland Nazomer Festival.
Their creations are regularly awarded and several of them have been released on the labels Et’Cetera, Warner Classics, Homerecords and Antarctica Records.