Hildegarde Von Bingen (1098-1179) / Galina Ustvolskaia (1919-2006) / Lena Shipova (born in 1995)
The 2025-2026 season of Concerts Escapades kicks off with the third edition of the Musique Femmes Festival. On 7 October at 7.30 pm at La Tricoterie, Concerts Escapades will present the opening concert, “No Woman, No Cry”, featuring three female composers:
Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006), with her Grand Duet for piano and cello.
A violent and somewhat liberating exchange between piano and cello by the Russian composer, who was censored in the USSR. It is not for nothing that she is called ‘the lady with the hammer’.
Then, in contrast, serenity and calm, with voice and cello, the piece ‘Cantique’ by the exceptional figure of the Middle Ages, Hildegarde von Bingen (1098-1179), will be performed by a voice and cello duo.
Finally, an exclusive premiere of a work by Elena Shipova, a young composer born in 1995, will be presented: ‘Creation of the World’, commissioned by Concerts Escapades and the Sochi Winter Festival. A true creation!
Programme:
- Grand Duet by Galina Ustvolskaya, performed by Duarte Soares on piano and Pieter Stas on cello.
- ‘Cantique’ by Hildegarde von Bingen, performed by Amel Sdiri (voice) and Pieter Stas (cello).
- ‘Creation of the World’ by Lena Shipova
And as usual, a surprise awaits the audience at each concert!
Tuesday October 7
Opening's concert
19:30
Collectif Medusa/Vincent Bruyninckx/ Colline
20:00
Thursday October 9
Cellule 133, Avenue Ducpétiaux 133A, Saint-Gilles
Musique et poésie
Every year, the Musique Femmes Festival brings together classical music, jazz and popular music in the same concert.
Performed by musicians you absolutely must discover, this musical evening promises to be as intense as it is original.
Music and poetry by Collectif Medusa
Amy Beach (1867-1944) / Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) / Fanny Libert (born 2000)
The first American female composer to achieve widespread success, Amy Beach is most famous for her Gaelic Symphony, the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. As her vocal music is abundant and of great finesse, the selection of works addresses the themes of love, nature and separation, with poets such as Alfred Tennyson, J. L. Stoddard and the texts of the composer's husband.
Rebecca Clarke is considered one of the most important composers of the inter-war period in the United Kingdom. Best known for her chamber music for viola, her compositions for voice are real gems, little known to our contemporaries. Writing to surprising texts, the subjects vary from the unfulfilled romance to the tragic death of a protagonist, via myths and legends, as well as more classical scenes from everyday life, with poets such as W. B. Yeats, A. E. Housman and John Masefield.
Keen to include new music in their programme, Collectif Medusa commissioned a cycle from young Belgian composer and pianist Fanny Libert, winner of the Prix André Souris 2023. The work is based on various texts by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), an American poet who lived in total seclusion for the last twenty years of her life.
Eight O’clock, 1927, Rebecca Clarke / Poème d’Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936)
The Lotos Isles, Op. 76 No. 2, Amy Beach / Poème d’Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)
The Seal Man, 1922, Rebecca Clarke / Poème de John Masefield (1878-1967)
I had no cause to be awake, 2024, Fanny Libert / Poèmes d’Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
Sleep, little darling, Op. 29 No. 3, Amy Beach / Poème de Harriet Prescott Spofford (1835-1921)
Voice : Sonia Lardy
Piano : Quentin Meurisse
Tribute to Carla Bley (1936-2023) by Vincent Bruyninckx
A self-taught pianist, Carla Bley was an early participant in the New York jazz scene, working in jazz club dressing rooms to listen to as much music as possible. Influenced by free jazz, she had a prolific career. She composed a two-hour opera, "Escalators over the Hill", and several pieces that became jazz standards, such as "Ida Lupino" and "Sing Me Soflty Of the Blues"... She founded several big bands and trios, collaborated with numerous jazz musicians, composed and arranged for Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra and composed the music for Claude Miller's film "Mortelle Randonnée" (1983).
Solo piano: Vincent Bruyninckx.
COLLINE
« Échos existentiels sur notes douces et légères (chanson à texte) »
"COLLINE invites you to visit yourself for the duration of a concert, performing songs born of a dialogue between your inner world and our increasingly harsh reality. To your left, you can see the joy of a liberating perspective (se casser en Roulotte), as well as the nostalgia of childhood enchantment (petite magie). As you stand up, your eyes may be filled with a desire to believe that the future is beautiful; and if tears come to your eyes, it will be either because of emotion, or because of the Onions chopped up along the way...
The voice is soft, sometimes sung, sometimes slammed or declaimed. A violin-alto is in place near the microphone, ready to take over from the vocal cords. COLLINE is not alone on stage: piano, double bass and percussion are mastered by talented female musicians, adding jazz, folk and pop colors to the eclectic style of the songs. The audience itself will find itself an accomplice, sometimes joining in, enriching this musical universe with the beauty of the collective..."
Vocals, viola, compositions: COLLINE
Piano and violin: Julien Gillain
Double bass: Marta Soares
Drums: Zoïa Tescher
Scène ouverte
18:00
Friday October 10
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Gilles
Students from the Royal Conservatory and the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels are invited to perform works by female composers. A concert in the form of an open stage. Audiences will have the pleasure of discovering new works under the fingers of young talent.
3 mélodies de Pauline Viardot
Juliette Doummar, chant
Emma Rouau, piano
Musical Toys de Sofia Gubaidulina (extraits)
Camille Brusset, piano
Saxophonesques de Fernande Decruck (extraits)
Valentijn Lievens et Morgane Caspers, saxophone
Pavane de Fernande Decruck pour quatuor de saxophones
Sax soprano: Antòn Gomez Martìn
Sax alto: Cristina Rodrìguez Sànchez
Sax tenor: David Torralbo Alcaide
Sax baryton: Maria Chiara Tunno
Cécile
20:00
The life of Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) was worthy of a show. A composer between two centuries with a post-romantic style, author of over 400 works, she suffered all her life from the mysogynism of her time. An independent, adventurous woman who composed all her life, she is brought back to life for an evening by pianist Karin Lechner.
Theatrical concert
Text by Peter Gumbel , staging by Daniela Pal
Scène tremplin
18:00
Saturday October 11
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Gilles
This stage will introduce the audience to four young female composers with different styles, ranging from contemporary music to jazz and audiovisual performances.
Mona Mio
She is developing a project at the crossroads of jazzy soul and luminous grooves that soften dark and intimate themes.
Her voice — velvety, broken and powerful, marked by nodules — bears the scars of her journey and explores human flaws.
Natasha Vew
Natasha Vew is a pianist, singer and composer. Born in Brussels, she first trained in classical piano, dance and theatre before turning to jazz piano at the age of 18. She obtained a master's degree in jazz piano (2018) and a master's degree in jazz singing (2024) at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where she studied with Eric Legnini and Pete Churchill. She also has a degree in philosophy from the ULB and is interested in issues related to the representation of women in jazz.
Inspired by figures such as Carla Bley, Maria Schneider, Richie Beirach and Avishai Cohen, the composer has developed a style that intertwines melodious, evocative melodies with subtle, modern harmonies. After exploring her musical universe as part of a quintet, she is now deepening her approach to composition through solo performances, in which space, voice and piano engage in an intimate dialogue.
Urszula Koza
A Polish composer and teacher of the younger generation. She graduated from the Wroclaw Conservatory of Music in Poland, where she currently teaches. As part of the Erasmus programme, she also continued her musical training in Italy, in Rovigo and Rome.
Her compositions have been performed in Poland, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Her musical interests and creative exploration focus mainly on chamber music and opera singing.
Her work for solo cello, ‘Hommage à W. Wojtkiewicz’, will be performed by Radosława Lascar. It is a piece inspired by the paintings of Witold Wojtkiewicz (1879-1909), an artist known in Poland for his surrealist, grotesque, dreamlike, somewhat disturbing paintings linked to the theme of childhood.
Radosława Lascar is a Polish-Romanian cellist whose musical path reflects a strong dedication to ensemble and orchestral performance. She began her studies in Poland at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, where she earned her bachelor’s degree, before continuing at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, completing her master’s studies under Olsi Leka.
Throughout her career, Radosława has performed with various youth orchestras and ensembles, including the Nordic Pulse, Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Neue Philharmonie München, and the Santander Orchestra. Her chamber music and orchestral experience has taken her across nearly all European countries, providing her with a diverse and collaborative musical foundation. Currently based in Belgium, Radosława is an active freelancer and a member of several ensembles, such as the Frascati Orchestra, Rhizome Ensemble, Virago Orchestra, and the Interregional Symphony Orchestra. She is also the founder of the Lascar String Quartet, through which she explores chamber repertoire and collaborative projects. Her recent work includes performances with Belgian orchestras and partnerships with fellow musicians in chamber settings. In 2024, she was a semi-finalist of the Supernova competition with her ensemble Beyond Tradition.
Alongside her musical career, Radosława is equally passionate about chess. In 2025, she won the title of Belgian Women’s Chess Champion, affirming her dedication to this second artistic and intellectual pursuit.
The duo Chrysalides will present an excerpt from ‘Madre!’
It is an immersive audiovisual performance that explores the journey of life through the prism of motherhood. The show combines electronic music, free improvisation, original compositions and projections, conceived as a dialogue between the rites of passage in a mother's life, personal memories, sacred songs and polyrhythms.
Luisa Maria Alvares Armesto: Harp, composition, improvisation
Cornelia Zambila: Violin, viola, composition, improvisation, video
An exceptional evening awaits you to close this third edition of the Musique Femmes Festival.
In the first half, the Spilliaert trio presents works by two contemporary Belgian composers: Jacqueline Fontyn (b. 1930) and Danielle Baas (b. 1958)
In the second half, accompanied by the young Etesiane orchestra, renowned Belgian pianist Eliane Reyes presents the piano concerto by Marianna Martines.
Marianna Martines (1744-1812) was an Austrian composer of Spanish origin. Born into an aristocratic family and a pupil of Joseph Haydn, she ran a salon in Vienna and founded a singing school. She composed over two hundred works - many lost today - including masses, oratorios, a symphony and a piano concerto, performed tonight in Belgium for the first time.
Lieber Joseph, Jacqueline Fontyn
Sui Generis, Danielle Baas
Violin: Jean-Samuel Bez
Cello: Guillaume Lagravière
Piano: Gauvain de Morant
Piano Concerto in A Major, Marianna Martines
Piano: Eliane Reyes
Direction: Gabriel Hollander
"Gai printemps", Mel Bonis "Valse lente", Germaine Tailleferre
Piano solo : Eliane Reyes
"Battements d'ailes", Jacqueline Fontyn
"Aphorisme 341", Juliette Recasens
Orchestre Etesiane, direction : Gabriel Hollander
20:30
Concert de clôture : Fontyn / Martines
Trio Spilliaert / Eliane Reyes & Etesiane Orchestra
