Close Encounters

The wind ensemble I Solisti del Vento and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra join forces for Close Encounters. This production presents a repertoire traditionally performed only by classical musicians. But the BJO wouldn't be the BJO without such challenges! Both ensembles will each showcase their own talents and explore the possibilities of the other with music by a range of composers including Igor Stravinsky, George Antheil, and Leonard Bernstein. When they come together in cross-fertilisation a new sound emerges, a Close Encounter of a new kind.

The programme includes the following compositions: Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs and Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto, both written in 1949 for Woody Herman's big band. Then there's No Let Up by contemporary British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and A Jazz Symphony, written in 1925 by wunderkind avant-gardiste George Antheil. Close Encounters also contains two new works: How Could We Forget the 12 Disciples by Bert Joris, written for this project and using the entire orchestra’s forces, and Reclusion by Frank Vaganée, commissioned by the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos (OJM) of Portugal, for their Composers Forum in July 2013. BJO will play the piece for the first time during the Close Encounters concerts.

I Solisti del Vento
I Solisti del Vento is Belgium's most important wind ensemble. Under the leadership of artistic director Francis Pollet, I Solisti del Vento has grown into an ensemble that can compete at the top international level as a wind ensemble. The core of the ensemble unites world-class musicians who have built solid reputations both as orchestral and chamber musicians, but also as soloists. Conductor Etienne Siebens was the leader of the Prometheus Ensemble for years. He was chief-conductor at Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen and has conducted orchestras and ensembles worldwide.

I Solisti del Vento and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra have already collaborated successfully on Agatha, a composition by the Finnish composer Kerkko Koskinen, in 2011.