Win tickets to Brussels Cello Festival from 30 October to 1 November

Brussels Cello Festival celebrates its fifth edition at Flagey cultural centre with eight concerts by a top flight of musicians including new Queen Elisabeth cello winner Ettore Pagano.

Just a few months after winning first prize at the prestigious competition, the 23-year-old Italian cellist will be sharing the stage with Marie Hallynck, a member of the jury that crowned him at Bozar in June.

Among other highlights are Victor Julien-Laferrière, winner of the 2017 Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition, performing with the Brussels Philharmonic on the opening night, a Saturday evening gala with ensembles of up to 12 cellos, and a closing concert for all the family, From Bach to Harry Potter.

Staged by the Belgium Cello Society under the artistic direction of cellist Han Bin Yoon, the festival also features renowned musicians Gary Hoffman, Camille Thomas, Roel Dieltiens, the Brussels Philharmonic the cello octet O-Celli and a new generation of players.

Together, they will be performing a musical programme spanning four centuries, from the cello’s Baroque beginnings to Romantic sonatas, Piazzolla’s tango and the film scores of John Williams. 

“A competition ends with a result; a festival is where the discovery continues,” says Yoon (pictured above) of the upcoming edition. “We invite young talents to find their voice alongside leading soloists. Something magical always happens when so much talent, of every age and background, comes together for one reason only: to create  beautiful musical moments and share them with the public,” added the artistic director.

Festival programme 

Friday 30 October, 17.00, When the Cello Began to Sing. The festival opens with Roel Dieltiens, Bart Naessens and  Ageet Zweistra in, a journey into the instrument’s earliest repertoire.

At 20.15, Brussels Philharmonic, Victor Julien-Laferrière & Sascha Goetzel. The 2017 Queen Elisabeth Competition winner joins the Brussels Philharmonic and  conductor Sascha Goetzel for Schumann’s Cello Concerto, in a programme also featuring Emilie Mayer’s  rarely heard Faust-Ouverture and Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and the suite from Der Rosenkavalier. 

Saturday 31 October, 11.00 The top three laureates of the 2026 Buchet International Cello Competition give their Flagey recital, following the contest’s final rounds in Mons.

At 14.00, Life after the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Ettore Pagano plays Mendelssohn, Debussy and Castelnuovo-Tedesco with pianist Paisit Bon-Dansac, and Marie Hallynck and pianist Muhiddin Dürrüoğlu perform Saint-Saëns’s First Cello Sonata. Pagano and Hallynck then join Han Bin Yoon and Dürrüoğlu for Popper’s Requiem for three cellos and piano.

At 17.00, Aleksey Shadrin & Camille Thomas. The two cellists pair Grieg and Brahms with Philip Glass. 

At 20.15, Gala Concert Growing Together. Pagano and Gary Hoffman each perform with pianist Chloe Jiyeong Mun, before festival artists including Marie Hallynck, Camille  Thomas and Natania Hoffman join the Buchet laureates in ensembles of four and 12 cellos, moving from  the rich sonority of Klengel’s Hymnus to the dancing rhythms of Piazzolla. 

Sunday 1 November, 14.00, Borrowed Fire. David Cohen, Aleksey Shadrin and Yibai Chen present music rooted in dance and folk traditions by Stravinsky, Bartók, Ravel, de Falla and Cassadó. 

At 17.00, From Bach to Harry Potter. In this ideal first concert for families and  newcomers, the cello octet O-Celli plays Bach, Bernstein and John Williams, including Hedwig’s Theme and the Flying Theme from ET. After the interval, festival artists and young talents fill the stage as the Brussels Cello  Festival Cello Orchestra, conducted by David Cohen, in music including Morricone’s Gabriel’s Oboe and Elgar’s Nimrod. 

Tickets: €18 to €41, youth and senior concessions, 20% off when booking three or more concerts.

Brussels Cello Festival
Flagey, Studios 1 and 4
Place Sainte-Croix
Ixelles

Win! A pair of tickets to a concert of your choice. Simply fill in your details below and we'll email you on Saturday 17 October if you've won.

Photos: Ettore Pagano ©Daniele Barraco; Brussels Philharmonic ©Frank Emmers; Han Bin Yoon ©Alfonso Bricegno