Daan Vandewalle

Composer/pianist Frederic Rzewski is a New Yorker with Polish roots, who has meanwhile lived for quite a while in Belgium. At the request of, among others, the Concertgebouw, he writes brand-new piano works, based on freedom songs from around the world. The Russian war song Katyusha, the African-American freedom song Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round and other socially-engaged songs served as inspiration for his work. Rzewski gained fame with his masterly piano variations The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, based on a Chilean protest song. In both his social commitment and his often improvisation-inspired music, freedom is a key word. In his compositions, he draws on numerous influences, including avant-garde music, the classical repertoire, minimalism and jazz. The result is highly sophisticated, endearingly honest, unique music, in which dizzying virtuosity is paired with great asceticism.