Like the seasons that change and return, even the classics can be transformed through new readings. In this choreographic concert, the boundaries between music and dance dissolve, adding a new layer to Max Richter’s celebrated 2012 reinterpretation of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons: a score that does not rewrite the original, but passes through it, fragments it, and recomposes it, amplifying the perception of time and memory. The music is performed entirely from memory by the musicians of BRYGGEN, led by violinist Jolente De Maeyer, who move through the stage space like a collective organism, following continuous and hypnotic trajectories.
A solitary dancer weaves among them, in constant dialogue with the music: at times contradicting it, at times pushing it toward new intensities. Choreographer Michiel Vandevelde translates Richter’s compositional logic into movement, building a bridge between Baroque and contemporary, between repetition and variation, between structure and trance. Each season is linked to a genealogy of dance (from Isadora Duncan to Pina Bausch), while electronic prologue and epilogue by Didem Coskunseven frame the cycle as a ritual of birth, death, and rebirth. The result is an immersive experience that reinvents the concert as a living, physical, and continuously mutating space.
BRYGGEN is a young and dynamic string orchestra from Bruges (Belgium) that boldly ventures northward in search of new sounds and connections with the world. Joining forces, sometimes against the current, at other times harmoniously immersed in the stillness of deep fjords. The ensemble performs without a conductor and consciously embraces innovation both in its repertoire and in the concert format: each performance becomes an experience in which music, image, text, and movement merge. Under the artistic direction of Jolente De Maeyer, BRYGGEN focuses on the sonic language of Scandinavia and the Baltic region, alongside key works of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The orchestra strongly believes in the value of collective music-making, with particular attention to ensemble sound and timbral colour.
Following its inaugural concert in 2020 at Concertgebouw Brugge, BRYGGEN has appeared at major festivals including Iedereen Klassiek, Musica Divina, B-Classic, Walden Festival, and Antwerp Spring Festival. The family production Zwanen, premiered in 2022, became a major success with 28 performances across Flanders.
In 2022, BRYGGEN presented the Belgian premiere of Wu Tsang’s Moby Dick at deSingel, in collaboration with Schauspielhaus Zürich, and in 2023 performed live Max Richter’s soundtrack for the film Waltz with Bashir as part of the MOOOV Film Festival.
With Songs with Roots (Concertgebouw Brugge, Zonzo Compagnie), the ensemble explored the power of folk songs within a multimedia setting in 2024. Minerals, a new creation by Mathias Coppens, combined artificial intelligence and live video in a poetic musical narrative. In collaboration with B-Classic and Manchester Collective, BRYGGEN presented the Belgian and Dutch premieres of Weather, Michael Gordon’s acclaimed 1997 work, featuring soundscapes by Chris Watson and a film by Carlos Casas, in autumn 2024.
That same year, BRYGGEN received the Ultima for Music, the Flemish Culture Award. The jury praised the ensemble for “the thoughtful way in which it connects innovation with the great tradition of classical music.”
Internationally, BRYGGEN is rapidly gaining recognition, having made its debut at the Holland Festival at Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam in 2022 and performing in the Netherlands (Theater Heerlen, Schouwburg Tilburg), France (La Coursive, La Rochelle, 2024), and Austria (Concentus Moraviae Festival, Retz, 2025). In 2025, the ensemble also collaborated with renowned artists such as Roberto Alagna and Ian Bostridge.
Alongside its artistic activities, BRYGGEN invests in the future through its educational project VIVA. Together with JOWest, VIVA was created to inspire and connect children and young people through music. In just two years, it has engaged more than 2,000 participants through workshops, masterclasses, summer camps, and the VIVA Feest! festival.
concept, musical direction, solo violin Jolente De Maeyer
choreography, concept, set design, lighting design Michiel Vandevelde
dance Amanda Barrio Charmelo or Sophia Dinkel
musical performance BRYGGEN – Bruges Strings
first violins Veronique De Raedemaeker, Paula Carmona Caminos, Eva Ackerman, Bérénice Awouters
second violins Isabel Dhallé, Femke Verstappen / Natalia Kotarba, Dominika Karbowniczek, Asude Ata
violas Oleksandr Petryakov, Ana Sofia Sousa, Eva Van de Ven, Natalie Glas
cellos Julia Kotarba, Suzanne Vermeyen, Lieselot Watté
double bass Lisa De Boos
harp Leen Van der Roost
harpsichord Jan Devlieger
music Max Richter – Recomposed: The Four Seasons; Didem Co?kunseven – Traveler on a Winter’s Night, parts 1 and 2
costumes Milk of Lime
lighting and sound technicians Pieter Nys, Yannick Willox
production management Saartje Cauwenbergh
Production: BRYGGEN – Bruges Strings
With the support of the Belgian Tax Shelter through Flanders Tax Shelter
