Alexander Jocqué about 2026/27 - Time’s wisdom

We say that art encourages contemplation and reflection. And that is certainly one of the many powers, benefits and functions of art. This Concertgebouw season demonstrates this even more than usual.  

We have reached the fourth season of our five-part cycle on the major phases of human life. Having celebrated love in all its forms, in this fourth instalment we reflect on the final phase of a human life: old age.

Perhaps more so than in other phases, this period comes with its joys and burdens. Physically and mentally, things can sometimes become more difficult or slower. But it can just as much be a period of freedom, of resignation and acceptance, of reaching maturity, mastery and insight. In other words, a time of wisdom.

We therefore focus on works created by artists at the height of their powers, on the passing on of knowledge – including through masterclasses – and on projects centred on multiple generations and the cross-pollination between these groups. Zilver, the first themed festival of the season, focuses on the positive: on the vitality that you certainly also experience, and in some respects even more so, in later life.

That is precisely the premise of the conversation between this season’s guest thinker and professor of psychology Paul Verhaeghe and the Dutch journalist Roek Lips, in which they draw on excerpts to discuss wisdom and life-shaping moments. We find that same vitality in Birgit Keil, an 81-year-old prima ballerina who shares the stage with her dance partner, 50 years her junior. The same applies to Multicast Rosas danst Rosas, in which Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, with a cast of 20 dancers spanning five (!) generations, revives her iconic dance performance in a unique way. In Strauss’ opera Der Rosenkavalier, the emphasis is on wisdom; the Marschallin may lose her beloved to a younger woman, but she is at peace with it. With Harvest, we remain within the vocal repertoire. A few singers with their own rich patina bring brand-new music by Annelies Van Parys and others to life.

‘At a certain point in your life, you may find yourself looking back more often than looking ahead.’

Ageing in the arts

That does not alter the fact that ageing is not always a joy, and can have a significant impact on mind and body. We do not turn a blind eye to that either. In Rimpelingen we reflect on the question of how to deal with ageing, and what role art can play in this. For instance, tenor Marco Beasley speaks about the effects of ageing on his voice and work. In Christian Bakalov’s sensory dance installation, you can feel the accumulated wisdom and years first-hand. When we talk about mental ageing, dementia is never far away. We are devoting considerable attention to this in the festival – building on the Concertgebouw’s many years of expertise and focus on the subject.

In Serieus Curieus, Elke Poppe, musical director of the Bruges-based inclusive choir Cantare Continua, engages in conversation with geriatric psychiatrist Mathieu Vandenbulcke about the beneficial effects of singing on the brain. People with dementia are also given a platform in a special concert for three pianos and electronics by Mark Fell, Kris Defoort and Pierre Slinckx. Finally, you will hear the impressive May by one of the Netherlands’ leading composers, Louis Andriessen. He wrote this monumental work while already suffering from dementia himself.

Looking back

Memories are also the focus of our latest themed festival, Wat blijft (What Remains). At a certain point in your life, you may find yourself looking back more often than looking ahead. How you do that – with warmth, or with regret – undoubtedly depends on what you have or haven’t done. This time, our season’s guest thinker Paul Verhaeghe sits down with theatre and podcast maker Johan Terryn to discuss how you can ensure you don’t get stuck in the past, but are fully present in the now. Looking back with wistfulness is something both Rachmaninoff and Medtner do, two composers who were forced to leave their homeland due to the Russian Revolution and, while in exile, expressed their homesickness through their music. There is plenty of melancholy in Sofie Vanden Eynde’s work too. Her ensemble brings nostalgia to life in John Dowland’s repertoire and in Armenian folk music, with the duduk’s characteristic plaintive sound. In Herencia Viva, Alvaro Murillo draws on a bygone era, specifically that of Spanish flamenco. Yet he resolutely catapults this into the present day with a thoroughly contemporary interpretation of this unique heritage.

25 years of Concertgebouw!

The Concertgebouw may be in its early twenties, but it has long since reached maturity. 2027 marks a special year in the history of the Concertgebouw: in February, we will be celebrating its 25th anniversary! Naturally, we will not let this milestone pass unnoticed. We have peppered our programme with performers, works and composers who are themselves celebrating an anniversary, and who will thus be joining us in the celebrations. From Philip Glass (90 years), to Zefiro Torna (30 years), Bert Joris (70 years), Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (300 years), Philippe Herreweghe (80 years), Wim Vandekeybus’s What The Body Does Not Remember (40 years) and Beethoven (who died 200 years ago) …

No birthday would be complete without a proper party. And party we shall! On the weekend when the Concertgebouw blows out exactly 25 candles, we’ll be going non-stop for a full 25 hours, during a most special birthday festival with something for everyone!

‘Perhaps more so than in other phases, the period of old age brings not only joys but also burdens. Yet it can just as much be a period of freedom, of resignation and acceptance, of reaching maturity, mastery and insight.’

 The key moments in life across five seasons

With a thematic five-year cycle, the Concertgebouw reflects on the major life phases over the course of five seasons.

• 2023/24 Birth
• 2024/25 Coming of age
• 2025/26 Love & relationships
• 2026/27 Old age & wisdom
• 2027/28 Death & the afterlife

Regular events

Back by popular demand is Beat it!, our percussion festival featuring exciting projects for percussion from various corners of the globe and diverse periods.

And of course, this season’s programme also features a number of familiar formats and names. During Deep Listening Night, everything revolves around active and conscious listening, with air (currents) taking centre stage this time in six short, diverse and fascinating concerts.

December Dance is once again the moment to discover the best of contemporary dance, including several exciting world and Belgian premieres. Alexander Vantournhout opens the festival with a brand-new creation.

In keeping with the season’s theme, a number of Bach’s masterpieces, written at the height of his powers, form the focus of the Bach Academy Bruges, our festival with Collegium Vocale Gent.

Finally, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer will make their return in May, in the good company of Nicolas Altstaedt en Alexandre Kantorow.

At 75 years of age, Ivan Fischer is, incidentally, also the embodiment of our season’s theme, which is perhaps best summed up as ‘age is just a number’. Season’s guest photographer Philippe Herbet captured precisely that spirit in a series of (un)conventional images.

I wish you a Concertgebouw season for the ages!!

Alexander Jocqué
Artistic Director