Ars Musica to hold family day in Brussels on 20 November

Ars Musica is one of the world’s biggest international contemporary music celebrations, with each edition focusing on a different theme.

For 2022, it’s exploring the intriguing topic of science in all its musical forms. From 18 November to 2 December, the 32nd edition is staged in multiple venues in Brussels, as well as Namur and Mons.

The festival’s guest of honour is the American avant-garde musician and composer Laurie Anderson, whose studio album Big Science is celebrating its 40th anniversary. It’s one reason why Ars Musica decided to present science as a vector of creative music. 

The Metropolis Rebooted opening concert at Bozar in Brussels on 18 November is a more formal alliance between images from the classic silent film and a musical composition for orchestra and electronics by Argentinian composer Martin Matalon. It’s a journey of discovery of the varying universes, parallel or under tension, that music and image produce.

Marathon Family Event is the festival’s annual family day at the Brigittines Chapel on 20 November. It consists of four events that expose young music lovers and their families to the intersection between the sounds of nature, science and music. Together, they combine performance, film and music with creative installations.

Among other highlights of the festival’s extensive programme are And yet she turns, an improvisation on the writings of Galileo, and Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass, a mythical opera about the famous scientist.

Alternatively, explore a visionary taste for the cosmos in Apollo by Brian Eno, or Fiction Science, an evening of sci-fi film music by Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams and Richard Strauss that explores the interaction between sound and images. A star turn of the event is Objèts Celèste, a world premiere by Brussels musician Jean-Luc Fafchamps.

Ars Musica
18 November to 2 December
Multiple venues in Brussels (plus Namur and Mons)

Photo: Ars Musica Marathon Family Event © Xavier Cauchy