Calendar

News

22-03-2023:

L’ALQUIMISTA in Barcelona

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.

15-11-2022:

The Mass Man in Amsterdam

De Theaterkrant describes The Mass Man as "intriguing musical meditation on mass, power and manipulation".
The full review is available on the website.

11-08-2022:

MAfestival - PREMIERE

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.

20-05-2022:

CD release Time Crawls

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:

BALSAM on tour


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

newsletter

Select how you want to stay informed about the activities of Zefiro Torna:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the 'unsubscribe link' in the footer of every email you receive from us, or by contacting us at info@zefirotorna.be We will treat your information with respect. By clicking below, you agree that we may process your data in accordance with our privacy conditions.

YULE!

— timeless soul music for the winter solstice (2023)

“And just like the seasons shift you’d always change your mind…” (Meskerem Mees)

As a sign of hope and light in the dark days, an exquisite collective of musicians gives a new musical interpretation to the ‘Christmas concert’.

The authentic voices of the internationally acclaimed singersongwriter Meskerem Mees and top soprano Lore Binon resonate heavenly in a cycle of pre-Christian ‘light’-songs, medieval and baroque Christmas music and songs by Meskerem Mees.

Piano wizard and composer Jean-Luc Fafchamps creates contemporary arrangements for a special instrumentation with folk guitar, violin, theorbo/ lute, cimbalom, percussion and prepared piano.

The musical keywords are friction and rotation. Instruments with different historical backgrounds and temperaments clash and search for harmonic agreement. The soulful voice of Meskerem Mees and the pure classical voice of Lore Binon become polymorphously intertwined on a layer of smooth backing vocals.

Meskerem Mees voice & guitar, compositions
Lore Binon voice & violin
Jean-Luc Fafchamps prepared piano, backing vocals & arrangements
Tom De Cock percussion, cimbalom & backing vocals
Jurgen De bruyn lute, theorbo & backing vocals

Alex Fostier sound engineer

production ZEFIRO TORNA
in coproduction with Concertgebouw Brugge, B-Classic
in coproduction with Ictus

Premiere: 21th of December 2023, Concertgebouw Brugge

Photo © Geert Goiris (2005) MELTING SNOW