MusiCOVIDeo

Bruges composer and pianist produce musical advent calendar

Two Belgian Queen Elizabeth Competition laureates have joined forces to produce a musical advent calendar. Anyone that subscribes to Thomas Blondelle and Liebrecht Vanbekevoort’s project will be able to enjoy an online mini concert each and every day between now and Christmas Day. All the concerts have been recorded in Bruges’ Concert Building.

 

The coronavirus crisis has been particularly difficult for those working in the cultural sector. 

The composer Thomas Blondelle and the pianist Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort looked for a corona-proof way for them to stay in touch with their audience during second lockdown this year. 

They decided to record a series of 25 mini-concerts, one of which would be made available to enjoy for the first time every day between 1 and 25 December. Each of the concerts in the musical advent calendar lasts between 5 and 10 minutes. 

The concerts we all recorded last month in the large, but empty hall of the Bruges Concert Building. Thomas Blondelle told VRT Radio 2 West Flanders that that "This was of course a little bit sad. We normally always play to a full house. It sounded good, but I would still rather play in front of a real audience. We made the best of it”. 

The Bruges composer added that "Our project is called musiCOVIDeo. Anyone that is interested can subscribe. Each day you will receive a link that will enable you to watch and listen to the concert". 

The repertoire is highly diverse ranging from German “lieder” to French “melodies” and American “songs”. It also includes arias from operas and operettas as well as piano solos and even a Christmas special on Christmas Day. 

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