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THE TIME IS NOW — discover our new season

Music and dance breathe life into time, and so during season 21—22 we circle around the elusive phenomena of 'time & memory'. Get ready for a season of hop-scotch-jumping through past-present-future, and above all: of seizing time for art in all sizes and colours. The time is NOW!

Jeroen Vanacker, artistic director

'The time is NOW. We want to make our lives shine again, and to turn monotony into a polyphonic spectacle. (...) In music and dance, the arts of time par excellence, a multifaceted approach to time is self-evident. Artists manipulate time, from minimal music where no repetitions are alike, to the slowly shifting sounds of the Wandelweiser composers. They refer to (the passing of) time and are inspired by it. (...) Music and dance breathe life into time and give us the time of our lives.'

Meet this season's central figures

David Van Reybrouck

David Van Reybrouck navigates between past and present, but equally between books, essays, poems, and theatre. As an archaeologist and philosopher, his modus operandi is to dig, think and question.

david in our new season

Yaqine Hamzaoui

The images for the brochure were created by Yaqine Hamzaoui. Hamzaoui sees herself as an observer, documenting her own life and focusing on the beauty of imperfection and the spontaneity of a moment.

Yaqine's images

Aurélie Nyirabikali Lierman

Aurélie Nyirabikali Lierman - born in Bruges with Rwandan roots - works with new techniques and old inspirations around different layers of time. Her oeuvre is multidisciplinary: she balances between radio, installation art, performance, voice and composition.

aurélie in our new season

Five new Masterpiece weeks

We continue our mission to present five masterpieces from five different centuries. Sensational works you should hear live once in your life time are complemented by in-depth activities, original context and performances that add even more sparkle to the work. This season, you can tick off Drumming by Steve Reich, Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz, Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno by Georg Friedrich Handel, Lachrimae by John Dowland and Missa L'homme armé by Guillaume Dufay from your bucket list. Did you know that with the subscription Topstuk (Masterpiece) you do not have to miss a single note? Highly recommended!

Festivals to look forward to

December Dance (Thu 02 — Sun 12 Dec 2021)

The high mass of contemporary dance in Flanders! With creations, co-productions, and premieres by Flemish and international choreographers such as Cindy Van Acker and Meg Stuart who engage in a surprising, inspiring interaction with the world around us.

Bach Academy Bruges (Wed 19 — Sun 23 jan 2022)

This twelfth Bach Academy Bruges looks beyond the boundaries of the great master’s life: back to his forefathers and sources of inspiration and (far) forwards to 20th-century reverberations. The master himself is naturally given the place of honour thanks, among others, to the expert touch of Philippe Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale Gent.

SLOW(36h) (Sat 05 — Sun 06 Feb 2022)

During this third edition of the arts festival of slowness, we give you 36 hours to stop and reflect in a society that is all too often rushing forward. We are nspired by ancient and other cultures to follow our intuition and forget the clock.

(B)its of Dance (Thu 24 Feb — Sun 27 Feb 2022)

During (B)its of Dance, the three Dance in Bruges partners (Concertgebouw Brugge, Cultuurcentrum Brugge and KAAP) join forces. This festival is a showcase for contemporary dance, but it is also an exciting platform for dance expertise. A festival for dance lovers and makers!

GOLD (Wed 25 May — Sun 29 May 2022)

GOLD interlinks the best of Bruges' Golden Age: the fascinating city history, the cultural heritage, the art treasures and above all the music! We immerse ourselves in the fabulous music of Bruges' flagship Lucca Choirbook and the world in which this music was born.

Budapest Festival Orchestra (Fri 03 Jun — Sat 04 Jun 2022)

In June, Budapest will once again be on our doorstep, thanks to maestro Iván Fischer and his world-famous Budapest Festival Orchestra. In this edition the music of Mahler plays a central role, and once again the star conductor has brought along a rising young talent: French pianist Alexandre Kantorow gives us his all in Beethoven and Liszt.

Katrien Van Eeckhoutte, general director

'Although dance and music listen to a strict clock, as a Concertgebouw visitor you can easily find yourself in an alternative time zone. After all, have you noticed that time passes differently in our arts venue? Take your time to browse through our brochure and website, to look forward to new memories, to rediscover the Concertgebouw, from morning skyline to evening mist, from the early Middle Ages to the distant future. Take your time. It is here. It is now.'

20 years of the Concertgebouw

20.02.2002 at 20.02: this iconic timestamp is etched into in the memory of the Concertgebouw community. Over the past two decades, the Concertgebouw has developed into an internationally respected art institution that is firmly embedded in the hearts and minds of music and dance lovers. The gifts have already been planned: a world premiere of Rosas, a children's book, a new work by David Claerbout for our art collection and a trip down memory lane with Anima Eterna Brugge. Together with our partners and audiences, we are making it an unforgettable fiesta, in which we look back on the past and forward to the future. Discover how our art house literally grew in the photo album below!

party along

Discover our art and architecture during a surprise-filled visitors’ trail

explore our Concertgebouw Circuit

Our artists in residence

In addition to being a home for music, dance, architecture and the visual arts, the Concertgebouw is also a home for five ensembles: the orchestra Anima Eterna Brugge, the vocal ensemble Vox Luminis, the new music explorers Nadar Ensemble and the dance companies Rosas & ECCE. These are all artists in whom we as an arts house are happy to invest extra and in every possible way: with rehearsal space, co-productions, recordings, content input and, of course, with a prominent presence on our stages.