Ten years after the death of Luc Brewaeys (1959–2015), organisers, orchestras, ensembles, and other partners are joining forces to present a rich cross-section of the music of one of Flanders’ most remarkable composers throughout an entire season.

-----

With Ilan Volkov at the helm, the Brussels Philharmonic chose the Second and Sixth Symphonies: in the latter, Brewaeys brings together everything he stands for - the vibrant coloration of 20th-century spectralism, a bold orchestral configuration and a confrontation with electronics.

From that sonic legacy emerges a bold new work by Daan Janssens: a violin concerto written for principal second violinist Samuel Nemtanu, with surround electronics woven into the very fabric of the score. The result is a visceral journey through sound and space—at once intimate and expansive.

“The electronics are not an afterthought,” Janssens explains. “They’re a kind of parallel universe.” Part of that vision was inspired by our streaming culture—and unexpectedly, by the Netflix series Stranger Things. In that show, a portal beneath an ordinary town opens to a dimension known as the Upside Down. While Brussels need not fear otherworldly creatures, Janssens was fascinated by the concept of a world that exists alongside our own.

His concerto imagines just such a space: where sound moves through unexpected directions, gestures are mirrored or transformed electronically, and the listener is immersed in a shifting sonic architecture. As audience and orchestra share the same space, the electronics surround, distort, and reframe what we hear—turning the concert hall itself into a parallel dimension.