Always Love — Concertgebouw Brugge puts love at the center in season 2025/26

After previous seasons exploring the themes of birth and adulthood, Concertgebouw Brugge reaches a new phase in its long-running thematic exploration of human life in 2025/26. Love and relationships now form the beating heart of the season — not only in their idealistic form, but also with space for their complexity, vulnerability and societal relevance.

An ode to love, in all its forms

The new season is a sparkling celebration of love, in its many guises: romantic or friendly, heteronormative or queer, physical or spiritual. With this, the theme is fed not only by beauty and desire, but also by reflection and confrontation.

Season thinker Fleur Pierets, writer, performer and LGBTQ+ activist, is an outspoken voice highlighting the shadows and challenges surrounding love and inclusion. Her contribution extends beyond words alone, merging with the visual work of season artist Julie Calbert, whose poetic images make the theme palpable in a moving way — both in the season brochure and on the walls of the Concertgebouw itself.

Artistic director Alexander Jocqué puts it strikingly:

"Is there a subject more celebrated, described, voiced and performed on stage than love? Inspiration aplenty for a season filled with declarations and stories of love, and with its share of heartbreak and jealousy."

Festivals as love letters

Three season festivals structure the theme as an epistolary journey. The Lieveling festival forms the declaration of love: music set to texts by Sufi poet Rumi, the translated French chansons of Alexandre Tharaud, and the moving Answer Machine Tape, 1987 by Philip Venables about love in the age of aids.

The chamber music festival Têtes-à-têtes explores the broad spectrum of human connection, with four programme lines: musical families, couples on and off stage, classical love stories and surprising 'blind dates' between performers and composers — arranged by the Concertgebouw itself.

The finale Forever yours focuses on impossible loves: Romeo and Juliet in Roméo et Juliette by Hector Berlioz, the mythical couple from Rameau's Les Boréades and a tender choreography by Ali Chahrour about love between men.

At the summer solstice follows an exuberant season finale — for no season breathes quite so much passion as summer.

Major names, established values

Various artistic heavyweights support the programme. The Bach Academie, with house ensemble Vox Luminis, presents among other things wedding cantatas in Bruges Town Hall. The Budapest Festival Orchestra brings the passionate sounds of Tristan und Isolde, with both the Vorspiel and the Liebestod on the programme.

The season further offers new editions of the polyphony festival GOLD — focusing on Mary of Burgundy —, Jazz Brugge (in collaboration with KAAP), and the dance festival December Dance (with Cultuurcentrum Brugge and KAAP), which increasingly positions itself as a platform for new work.

New makers and lasting relationships

Three new makers are welcomed: dancer and choreographer Guilhem Chatir, tenor and baroque specialist Reinoud Van Mechelen, and violinist Aisha Orazbayeva. They are given space to explore new artistic paths within the house.

Furthermore, Concertgebouw continues to invest in its Close Connections partners, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln. They bring both familiar repertoire and new creations.

The season's programming is moreover interwoven with international cultural collaborations. EUROPALIA focuses on ESPAÑA, and plans in Bruges a special project around Children's Games by artist Francis Alÿs, in co-production with Ultima Oslo, Wien Modern and Warsaw Autumn. In the new exhibition hall BRUSK, his videos enter into dialogue with contemporary compositions.

Flemish commitments

Valuable connections are also forged locally. For instance, the temporary closure of Opera Gent for renovation creates a unique collaboration with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen. Each season will feature one fully staged opera production in Bruges. For the premiere, Carmen by Georges Bizet is chosen — a beloved work that perfectly embodies the theme of love.

Another notable initiative is the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the death of composer Luc Brewaeys (1959–2015). Spread throughout the season, Flemish ensembles and orchestras jointly present all his symphonies, making this tribute a unique and unifying project within Flemish musical life.

Practical overview season 2025/26

• Central theme: love & relationships — Toujours l'amour

• Season thinker: Fleur Pierets

• Season artist: Julie Calbert

• Four thematic festivals: Lieveling, Têtes-à-têtes, Forever yours, Zomerwende

• New makers: Guilhem Chatir, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Aisha Orazbayeva

• House ensembles: Rosas, Anima Eterna Brugge, Vox Luminis

• Close Connections: LPO, RPhO, Gürzenich-Orchester

• International co-productions: EUROPALIA, BRUSK, Children's Games (with Francis Alÿs)

• New opera partnership: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen — starting with Carmen (Bizet)

• Commemoration: 10 years since the death of Luc Brewaeys — complete symphony cycle

Ticket sales

• Friends and Keys: starting on 13 May at 9 am

• General public: from 20 May at 9 am

• Full programme and tickets via: www.concertgebouw.be