Partytime (as usual)

While Festival 20·21 celebrates its 30th birthday this year, Transit can boast its 25th edition. And like anyone else in their early twenties, we’re not celebrating with solemn ceremonies or grand displays (well, maybe a little, since we did book a real orchestra). With youthful joie de vivre, we’re operating on the assumption that every weekend, including Transit, is another party. Accordingly, we won’t be taking a satisfied look back at the last 25 years, but resolutely looking ahead to all the exciting things happening in new music, and how we can get a compelling combination of new artistic voices to be heard in that diverse musical landscape.

With this in mind, it seems appropriate that in this jubilee edition we continue to reaffirm the core key points of Transit.

Firstly, we take a broad view of the multiplicity of aesthetic currents and stylistic variety. The geographical scope spans Norway to Southeast Asia, the generations from revered figureheads (even with posthumous homages to Kaija Saariaho and Wim Henderickx) to very young talent. There are overlaps with improvised music (Okkyung Lee), electronics (Zubin Kanga’s ‘cyborg’ piano-with-sensors), video art (Joanna Bailie) and performance (Øyvind Torvund) as well as a postmodern twist on the ultra-classical piano sonata (Frank Nuyts).

Secondly, our ambition has always been to provide a stage to state-of-the-art international developments, alongside or in dialogue with Flemish composers and performers. This year’s spotlights on Henderickx and Nuyts stand out in that respect, but the new work and premieres by Annelies Van Parys, Shalan Alhamwy, Benjamin Windelinckx and Ellen Jacobs testify just as greatly to a flourishing scene in Flanders, one in which Transit only aims too gladly to play its part.