Music in Nieuw Gent
The music we make is a basic right for everyone. Flanders Symphonic Orchestra is socially committed and also looks at the world outside the concert hall! Under the name FSO-Express, our musicians go out and build bridges through music.
Music educational project
With ‘Het Leven is een Lied' Flanders Symphony Orchestra and Mais Quelle Chanson join their artistic forces for a music educational project in the schools of the social housing district New Ghent. It is a great mixture between reading and philosophizing, between writing songs and making music. It is a meeting point for both artist and musician, between pupils and new challenging ways of educating. A successful first edition in 2019 marked the start of this inspiring collaboration.
Starting from workshops making short stories and poetry, the children start a dialogue with each other and create their own lyrics. Together with musicians of Flanders Symphony Orchestra and Mais Quelle Chanson, they compose a melody to their self-written song. As icing on the cake, an arrangement is made with the orchestra, the project ends with a public presentation in and outside the New Ghent district.
The Orchestra Specialist
As COVID-19 made a physical cultural invasion in 2020 impossible, we want to stimulate the children with this digital preliminary trajectory until we - fingers crossed - can make music together again in 2021 in the neighbourhood. This initiative is part of the urban renewal project Nieuw Gent Vernieuwt, which is building a high-quality leisure offer and talent development in the New Ghent district.
In 5 episodes, Stefaan De Rycke, aka The Orchestra Specialist (Orkestspecialist), welcomes pupils to the wonderful world of the symphony orchestra. All episodes can be found in a handy playlist on our YouTube channel.
Fair Saturday 2019
Saturday 30 November 2019, Fair Saturday took place, a global initiative highlighting the social impact of culture and arts. Muziekcentrum De Bijloke, Flanders Symphony Orchestra and Mais Quelle Chanson organized an interactive benefit concert for De Broederij, an open meeting place on the Standaertsite in Ledeberg.
Children and youngsters from the New Ghent district introduced, together with the musicians of FSO, the audience in an interactive way to their stimulation project through singing, philosophy and music.