How did you find each other? Did you meet during masterclasses or at conservatory, were you friends beforehand or did you look for a specific instrument to make music with?
Violinists Ciska and Ludovic began their violin studies together at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and got to know each other well as friends there. During that time, Ciska was together with clarinetist Emile, who was studying in Brussels, and together they decided to study Mozart's quintet with two other fellow students for chamber music class. From that moment, the seeds were planted to continue as a group through life. After some changes over the years, Karin Broeckhove and Jasmien Van Hauthem also joined the ensemble.
How long have you been playing together? And in which part of Belgium is your home base as an ensemble?
The Firgun Ensemble has existed for five years now. In that respect, I think we are quite unique for our age category. The goal is therefore to constantly grow together as musicians and performers. We are all currently living in Ghent, which also makes it easy to meet for rehearsals, but also to catch up over a glass of wine.
What was your motivation to participate in this competition?
Since we had many opportunities in the Netherlands by winning the Storioni competition in 2018, we looked for a way to also gain a foothold in our own country. The Supernova competition is the ideal way to break through that glass ceiling and be allowed to show ourselves on stages throughout Belgium. We hope that the offer of a range of concerts is the beginning of a larger series of recitals throughout Belgium!
How did you determine the repertoire? And how does this competition repertoire reflect or differ from your usual repertoire?
We approached the final the same way we would approach a concert. We chose to combine well-known work, in this case the first movement from Brahms' clarinet quintet, with unknown gems for our instrumentation; the Rêverie Orientale by Alexander Glazunov and the last movement of Tristan Keuris' Clarinet Quintet. At a concert, we would also always end with our own arrangement, so we treated the audience in De Singel to an arrangement of Sting's An Englishman in New York. A fun fact is that our regular arranger is Ludovic's father, Luc Bataillie.
Which prize are you most looking forward to and why? The tour, the Klarafestival stage with the live radio broadcast or the cd recording?
We are very much looking forward to all the prizes and opportunities that Supernova brings our way! They are all opportunities that are tremendously important in the development of young ambitious ensembles. Playing live on the radio at BOZAR is something every classical music student dreams of during his training! A concert tour through the various cultural centers gives us the opportunity to introduce a large audience to our ensemble, the repertoire and the joy of playing that we like to express on stage.