Coudenberg Sound Box Fest

Underground festival at the heart of Europe

Every Sunday from 26th November to 17th December: double concerts + visit the archeological site of the Coudenberg Palace.

Much more than a classical music festival, Coudenberg Sound Box Fest aims to reconnect its audience with Belgium's archaeological, historical and artistic heritage by bringing the remains of the Coudenberg Palace into dialogue with the eclecticism and the dynamism of its present.

From early music dating back to the 14th century, through baroque, jazz, folk and electronic music, to contemporary compositions, the subtle and invisible links between these different styles will be revealed by internationally renowned musicians from the City of Brussels and Belgium.

Music in its four elements: in search of its hidden roots

Sunday  26 / 11 / 23 – 18:30 (Doors: 18:00 - end foreseen around 21:00)
AIR: SWINGING VIBRATIONS AS TIME FLIES

Duo Coordonné (Thomas Langlois, baroque lute & Anna Nuytten, mezzo soprano)
The musicians focus on contemporary and early Belgian music by taking modern songs and arranging them for voice and lute in the characteristic 'renaissance' style of famous lutenists of the time, such as Emmanuel Adriaenssen and Adriaen Valerius. In the same way, older songs are set to a more modern accompaniment, with famous texts by Belgian songwriters of genius such as Jacques Brel, Luc de Vos, Bart Peeters and others. 
This programme was recently recorded for the Etcetera label. 

Christophe Morisset (compositions and serpent) & Gilles Doneux (composition and electronics)
Historically, the serpent gained its greatest popularity in the liturgical musical practice that began in France at the end of the 17th century and lasted until the middle of the 19th century. Putting this strange and fascinating instrument back into its historical context is a way of reactivating the memory of the site by re-energising frequencies that have long since died out. This unique moment in sound is built around a dialogue between Gilles Doneux's electronic compositions and plainchant pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries revisited by Christophe Morisset. A huge venue with reverberant acoustics like the Palais du Coudenberg is the ideal place to immerse the audience in timeless sounds.

Tickets

Detailed programme

Practical information:

Wear warm clothes and/or shoes or bring a blanket.

ADDRESS: Coudenberg Palace, Place Royale 10, 1000 Brussels

TEAM:

• Music Curator CSBF: Dr Matteo Gemolo
• Administrative Assistant CSBF: Justyna Novakovic
• Director Coudenberg Palace: Frédérique Honoré

WITH THE SUPPORT OF: 

• Ville de Bruxelles
• Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles
• Ceci&Sons
• the European Festivals Association
• Musiq3
• Loterie Nationale
• Brussels 2023
• Urban
• Visit Brussels
• La Classica