10 Treurenberg, 1000 Brussels
Special Day – 28 November 2026 | Ars Musica & Liszt Institute Brussels
Laurence Mekhitarian & friends
He spans a century—or rather, two! One of the most remarkable figures in contemporary music of the 20th and 21st centuries, composer György Kurtág celebrated the equally remarkable milestone of his 100th birthday in February. Building on the enduring legacy of his fellow Hungarian Béla Bartók, who belonged to the previous generation, and deeply inspired by composers such as Robert Schumann and Johann Sebastian Bach, whose works he has occasionally transcribed, Kurtág has created a vast body of compositions, many of them strikingly concise, in which every single note is shaped with extraordinary care.
To celebrate the birthday of this exceptional artist, the Hungarian Cultural Institute presents a Kurtág Day in three parts. Following workshops led by Laurence Mekhitarian, children will perform selections from Játékok (Games), Kurtág's collection of piano pieces that invites young pianists to discover the keyboard through play and imagination. More advanced instrumentalists will then take the stage, before the evening concludes with a concert for clarinet, violin, piano, and the fascinating cimbalom—the traditional Hungarian hammered dulcimer, whose horizontal strings are struck with small mallets. The programme brings together the many musical influences that have shaped Kurtág's work, from Bach to the present day.
A concert for young and old alike—from 1 to 101 years of age.
Programme
16:00–17:00 – Játékok (Games)
18:00–19:00 – Concert by students from Brussels music academies
20:00–21:15 – Kurtág's Centuries
Performers
Laurence Mekhitarian – piano
Paula Defresne – clarinet
Gergely Kota – viola and violin
Maria Paz Martinez – cimbalom and piano