Brussels Philharmonic / Ilan Volkov – Orchestrating Resistance

Brussels Philharmonic and Ilan Volkov present a programme around protest and resistance. With works by Raven Chacon, Tyshawn Sorey, Annea Lockwood and George Lewis, the orchestra gains a contemporary, political voice. How does the symphonic orchestra sound today as a voice of resistance and protest? On the occasion of the launch of the Shifting Sounds festival, we spoke with Brussels Philharmonic and Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov, who in 2025 closed his performance at the BBC Proms with a powerful statement against genocidal violence in Gaza. From that urgency, Volkov assembled a compelling programme. Raven Chacon explores in Inscription the vulnerability of the collective and opens new, charged spaces with silence and fragmentation. Tyshawn Sorey brings with For Wadada Leo Smith a hushed tribute to Afro-American history and artistic resistance. In Saouah! Annea Lockwood lets voices and gongs merge into a ritual sound field of connectedness and attention. George Lewis departs in Weathering from a permanent state of alertness as a response to sustained experiences of anti-Blackness. His music captures the sound of that struggle and seeks new histories and identities within classical music: 'Weathering (the music) is about the sound of that struggle … I am hoping that this music will provoke not stress, but empathy.' Programme: Raven Chacon (°1977) Inscription 14' Tyshawn Sorey (°1980) Adagio (for Wadada Leo Smith) 3'30 Annea Lockwood (°1939) Saouah! ??' George Lewis (°1952) Weathering 17'