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Concerts everywhere: Bozar Music Opening Night

16:15 14/09/2015

Bozar is known for its original Art Deco architecture, its world-class visual arts exhibitions and the occasional presidential appearance (Barack Obama, for instance, as if you had forgotten).

It’s also one of Brussels’ most popular concert halls, with a programme spanning classical, contemporary, electronic and world music. All are showcased during the season kick-off gala that is Bozar Music Opening Night.

More than a dozen multimedia and site-specific performances unfold throughout the building but particularly in the majestic Henry Le Boeuf Hall. This opening night is special for another reason: it marks the start of Bozar’s 150th season.

There’s music everywhere. The Secession Orchestra stalks the hallways with instruments in hand.

The collaborative Music Rooms project colonises foyer, balcony and studio. The reception salon is occupied by one of the opening night’s headliners, German overtone singer Anna-Maria Hefele. A YouTube sensation, Hefele can sing two distinct vocal parts at the same time.

The centrepiece of the programme is Quatuor Tana’s marathon performance of String Quartet II. The six-hour piece was conceived by pioneering American composer Morton Feldman as a kind of meditative exercise and, true to spirit, the musicians (pictured) refuse to strike any epic poses. Like a stream flowing through the opening night festivities, String Quartet II is an occasion for contemplation rather than a call to arms. Robert Wilson’s ultra-slow-motion video installation Lady Gaga: Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière is another exploration of the longue durée.

It’s not all arty abstraction, though. Austrian producer Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of classical composer Sergei Prokofiev, gives the classics a cybernetic shot in the arm with his Vienna Remix. Finally, the night ends with a late-night dance party hosted by Brussels DJ Fady One and inspired by the German word for “future” (zukunft).

Photo: Nicolas Draps