Béla Bartók’s legacy continues to connect cultures, generations, and disciplines. The Brussels Bartók Festival event brings together musicologists, composers, and performers from Hungary, Belgium, and France to explore the composer’s enduring influence—his years of research, his connection to Brussels, and his impact on contemporary music.Organised in partnership with the Bartók Archives of Belgium and Budapest, the programme reflects the strength of Hungarian-Belgian cultural cooperation and invites audiences to engage with Bartók’s music from fresh and thought-provoking perspectives.
Registration: https://forms.gle/TWbfMUKNvUBXWvu46
Wednesday 24 September 2025, 3pm - Lectures
- “I salute the valiant Belgian people in this hour of their liberation…”Béla Bartók and BrusselsLecture by Carl Van Eyndhoven (Brussels Bartók Archives)- Bartók’s Research during his Last YearsLecture by László Vikárius (Budapest Bartók Archives)
Musical intermezzo
- La reception de Bartók à Frances après 1945 / The reception of Bartók in France after 1945Jean-François Boukobza (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris)
5 pm - Break
“Béla Bartók’s Inspiration On Contemporary Belgian Composers”Discussion with Composers & Teachers CompositionErika Budai (Municipal Conservatory, Leuven)Jurgen De Pillecyn (Erasmus School of Arts - Brussels Conservatory)Pieter Schuermans (LUCA School of Arts - Campus Lemmens Leuven)Bram Van Camp (AP School of Arts - Antwerp Conservatory)Moderator: Pieter Mannaerts (Leuven University
)7pm - “Ex Nihilo” - Concert by Brecht Valckenaers - PianoWorks by György Ligeti, Brecht Valckenaers, Béla Bartók, George Crumb, Henry Cowell, György Kurtág…
