BICINIUM is a new series of duo programmes, organised by Zefiro Torna. Each edition brings together two artists from different disciplines or artistic backgrounds, who engage in a dialogue with one another.

The concept is inspired by the idea of a ‘bicinia’: originally, a polyphonic composition for two voices or two parts. In BICINIUM, this principle is transposed into a contemporary artistic encounter between two creators. Their voices, instruments, ideas and working methods come together in a unique programme, created specifically from this encounter.

The duos may consist of musicians, singers, improvisers, poets, writers or artists from other disciplines. Sometimes, the historical repertoire serves as a starting point for an unexpected combination of instruments or soundscapes; in other cases, the programme arises from spoken word, improvisation or direct artistic dialogue.

What links the various editions is a curiosity to discover what emerges when two artists come together. BICINIUM creates a space for exchange, experimentation and discovery, paying particular attention both to the spontaneity of the moment and to the thematic and philosophical richness of the encounter.

The first edition was previewed at the MAfestival 2026 in Bruges, in collaboration with the writer Peter Verhelst. Further collaborations are planned for 2027 and beyond.

#1 GOULE (created in 2026) - Peter Verhelst & Jurgen De Bruyn

I’d like to give you arms to catch the world should it ever come crashing down. Arms to hold close those who need supporting, and to be held yourself on dark days. (2050 – Peter Verhelst)

A ‘mouth of fire’ is, literally, the muzzle of a cannon or a mortar: the place from which force is propelled outwards. But what happens when it is not gunpowder, but words and music that burst forth from such a mouth of fire?

In VUURMOND, the poet Peter Verhelst and the lutenist Jurgen De Bruyn meet at the crossroads between word and sound. Neither an illustration nor a clearly defined conversation, but an artistic confrontation in which the two voices challenge one another, reinforce one another and are sometimes diverted from their course.

The music ranges from the virtuosity of Alessandro Piccinini and the melancholy of Nicolas Vallet to the dance-like power of Kapsberger, the expressive freedom of Galilei and the inescapable architecture of Bach. Amidst these historical sounds emerge improvisations and new soundscapes by Jurgen De Bruyn. The old is given new life; the familiar resonates anew.

And now for the words. Those of Peter Verhelst, whose poetry – drawn from collections such as 2050 and Nachtatlas – defies easy categorisation, yet constantly opens up new worlds.

Anyone familiar with these two artists knows that the adjectives ‘original’, ‘poetic’ and ‘adventurous’ are by no means empty words here. ‘Vuurmond’ is a meeting full of sparks – at times gently smouldering, at others of unexpected intensity. A performance in which music and speech do not converge, but are constantly seeking one another.

Created in collaboration with Behoud De Begeerte

At the request of the MAfestival

#2 DE VISÉE REIMAGINED (premiering in 2027) - Toon Callier & Jurgen De Bruyn

What if Robert de Visée, lutenist and guitarist at the court of Louis XIV, had a Telecaster, a valve amp and a tremolo pedal today? Perhaps he would then have composed a suite for electric guitar…

With DE VISÉE REIMAGINED, string virtuosos Toon Callier and Jurgen De Bruyn place the work of Robert de Visée (c. 1655–1732) at the heart of a surprising dialogue between the past and the present.

Toon Callier explores De Visée’s dances, preludes and sarabandes on the electric guitar. A warm and subtly resonant tone lends the Baroque repertoire a contemporary dimension, whilst preserving the music’s rhetoric and refinement. In his own compositions for prepared guitar, this Baroque elegance evolves into a contemporary soundscape of harmonics, noise and feedback.

On the baroque guitar and theorbo, Jurgen De Bruyn brings De Visée’s original soundscape back to life. The result is a musical dialogue between historical performance practice and contemporary sound aesthetics.

In Tombeau de M. Francisque Corbet for lute and electric guitar, these two worlds converge. De Visée’s music is not treated as a museum piece, but as a living entity that can be rediscovered, reinterpreted and transformed.

‘De Visée Reimagined’ brings together two styles of performance and two temporal perspectives in a unique encounter between Baroque refinement and contemporary sonic poetry.