Ictus Ensemble

Iconic, groundbreaking, and controversial. This end of May 2026, we are bringing Philip Glass’s cult 20th-century masterpiece, Einstein on the Beach, back to the stage. Far from a traditional opera, this piece defies all conventions: it lasts for 200 minutes without intervals, has no plot, and features no sung roles. Instead, entirely in the spirit of Albert Einstein, our choir will sing only numbers and note names. Together with the brilliant musicians of @ictusensemble and the legendary @therealsuzannevega acting as our narrator, we invite you to experience a true minimalist sound-bath. The doors of the concert hall will remain open throughout the performance. The time will dilate. The music will become a physical and mental challenge. Join us on our 2026 European Tour: 🇩🇪 20.05 | Dresden - Festspielhaus Hellerau 🇩🇪 22.05 | Hannover - Musikfestspiele Herrenhausen 🇪🇸 26.05 | Sevilla - Teatro de la Maestranza 🇸🇰 28.05 | Bratislava - Old Market Hall 🇬🇷 30.05 | Athens - Epidaurus Festival 🎟️ Tickets at the link in our bio! CREDITS: Music: Philip Glass Concept: Robert Wilson & Philip Glass Texts: Christopher Knowles, Samuel M. Johnson, Lucinda Childs Narrator: Suzanne Vega Conductor: Tom De Cock Assistant Conductor: Dirk Descheemaeker Collegium Vocale Gent (Voices): Choir Master: Maria van Nieukerken Sopranos: Joowon Chung, Malena Napal, Elisabeth Rapp, Charlotte Schoeters Altos: Marlen Herzog, Laura Kriese, Julia Spies Tenors: Peter Di-Toro, Thomas Köll Basses: Philipp Kaven, Bart Vandewege Ictus Ensemble (Musicians): Violin: Igor Semenoff Flute/Piccolo: Chryssi Dimitriou Bass Clarinet: Dirk Descheemaeker Saxophones: Nele Tiebout, Asagi Ito Keyboards: Jean-Luc Plouvier, Brecht Valckenaers Sound: Alexandre Fostier, Antoine Delagoutte Production: Pieter Nys #CollegiumVocaleGent #EinsteinOnTheBeach #PhilipGlass #SuzanneVega IctusEnsemble

Looking back at Pulse! - Siesta concert for the @operalille Such a beautiful afternoon! Percussion players - Anita Cappuccinelli and Edoardo Parente

EUPEPSIA DYSPEPSIA / DES TEUFELS LEIBSPEISE Hey, I wonder where that QR code leads… Karin Harrasser recently released a book talking about the topics of our previous collaborative project of Eupepsia Dyspepsia! In partnership with this book, an album of the music of this project has been released on our Bandcamp. Go have a listen! You can find the link in our bio. #IctusEnsemble

HUZZAH! The Rise is one of the winners of the Music Theatre Now Prize, congrats to @evareiter1 and @vandevelde.michiel and all those involved for such meaningful work that resonates! #musictheatrenow #ictusensemble #contemporarymusic #experimentalopera

EUPEPSIA DYSPEPSIA / DES TEUFELS LEIBSPEISE “Culture is a process of devouring and being devoured, thriving on appropriation and counter-appropriation..” Our 2020 production with Karin Harrasser, Eupepsia Dyspepsia, has been revisited, six years later. The conference-performance-concert has taken on new form of the book Des Teufels Leibspeise by Karin Harrasser, accompanied by an album release titled Eupepsia, available on our Bandcamp. This collaboration between Eva Reiter and Karin Harrasser explores the 18th century hybrids of baroque and indigenous music that emerged from the Jesuit missions in Bolivia. reflecting on the long-term effects of colonialism. The book and the album put this archive of work in dialogue with intrusion, hybridization, appropriation, assimilation and the long-term effects of colonialism. You can find the Bandcamp link in our bio. #IctusEnsemble

IDYLLE DRAMATIQUE Eva Reiter and Tom Pauwels Times is cracking. The present becomes the past but more interestingly the past becomes the present. This program of music by Marin Marais and Burkhard Stangl explores just that. It was great to play this beutiful program in Malmö last weekend. But it’s not over, it may yet live to live another life. Stay tuned. #ictusensemble #baroquemusic #baroquemeetsmodern #burkhardstangl #marinmarais

Retour en images sur le concert sieste « Pulse ! » avec Anita Cappuccinelli et Edoardo Parente, solistes de l’ensemble Ictus Un moment suspendu autour de 3 œuvres minimalistes hypnotisantes ! Le saviez-vous ? L'Opéra de Lille propose 3 expériences de concerts pour vivre la musique autrement : Sieste : concert allongé* le mardi à 13h 45 min | 10 € Heure bleue : concert assis le jeudi à 18h 1h | 10 € Insomniaque : concert allongé* le samedi à partir de 21h 3 concerts de 1h15 environ | 10 € par concert, 25 € pour la soirée complète * des fauteuils seront proposés aux personnes ne souhaitant pas s’allonger © Daniel Rapaich - DICOM @lille_france

《眾人協奏曲》 People Concerto @peopleconcerto — 製作｜玹圓有限公司 STUDIO F.A.C.E. 藝術總監暨作曲｜張玹 裝置暨視覺統籌｜馬圓媛 @yuanyuan.ooo 創作顧問｜洪唯堯 執行導演｜黃上嘉 編舞暨表演｜劉奕伶 @liuiling610 笙｜李俐錦 @lilichin1111 錄音暨現場演出｜比利時強音當代古典樂團 @ictusensemble 錄音｜斯圖加特當代人聲團 @neue_vocalsolisten 音響設計與工程｜孫紹庭 @sun_shaoting 燈光設計｜曾睿琁 @ray_tseng___ 服裝設計｜陳劭彥 @shaoyenofficial 技術統籌｜洪毓琛 影像技術｜吳宜曄 製作統籌｜鄭逸伸 @easoncheng1125 執行製作｜王嫈綠、劉冠伶 @alayiwennienne 平面攝影｜李佳曄 動態攝影｜提爾扎．伊凡 @tirtzaeven 互動感測技術開發贊助｜廣達研究院 作曲獨家贊助｜Muzik3 Foundation 聲音工程獨家贊助｜Jessica Chu & Hendrick Lee 前期階段性呈現支持｜臺中國家歌劇院

IN THE ICTUS STUDIOS Over the last few months our studios have been to home to some incredible artists and projects. In order of as they appear: 1. Clay Bodies Residency with @ulasickle 2. Polyphonic Encounters with @dashausmuzik 3. @incluster_ Ensemble 4. @game_contemporary_music performing Hoketus 5. Weaving Feldman with @victor.guaita 6. Hypersenses with @zefiro.torna and @davidhelbich Exciting stuff on the Van Volxemlaan… #IctusEnsemble #ContemporaryMusic #BrusselsMusic

. 謝謝這麼多的朋友來看《眾人協奏曲》。 這兩天我自己也進場看了幾場。每一場都是相同的文字、相同的結構，每一格地圖也都有逐漸變化的音樂元素。但因為每一組觀眾的組成與緣分不同，竟然讓每一場所呈現出的集體行為、聲響構成與型態，產生了如此劇烈的變化。 看著觀眾的行為，有時候我會焦慮：萬一音樂的邏輯掉了怎麼辦？會不會哪裡快出錯了？但後來我意識到，那其實只是身為作曲家，對於腦海中那個「最好樣子」的偏執。 連續兩天的 Q&A 都快變成了研討會，謝謝許多觀眾與朋友的反饋，也很抱歉沒辦法一一深入交流。 很多人會把作曲家聯想到「上帝視角」、「監控」；但對我而言，這更像是我在每一格土地上撒下音樂的種子，讓它們隨著時間、光影與地貌的變動，長成聲音的各種姿態。圓媛 @yuanyuan.ooo 創造了這片土地，Ray @ray_tseng___ 給予了光，奕伶 @liuiling610 以慈悲推動了地貌的變遷，而紹庭 @sun_shaoting 的團隊與廣達的工程師們，則讓這些聲音的姿態真正長出了形體。 很多人感受到這個作品裡有某個超越所有人的意志，其實那不是我。很多時候，連我自己做的決定，也不覺得是「我」做的。從比利時遠道而來的 @ictusensemble ，與俐錦 @lilichin1111 ，或許是那個意志最直接的載體，也是讓它得以現形的人。 在此之後，我們退居幕後，僅確保這個世界的運作如常。 剩下的，就是讓所有人在其中探索、遊玩、發呆，去組成自己喜歡的聲音，理解與他人的關係，以及經歷從個體到集體不同型態的過程。然後在最後重新回看：即便拿著同樣的「命盤」（號碼），卻會因為個人與集體決定的不同，創造出截然不同的整體性。 有時候想想，這個作品很奇怪。沒有觀眾，整個世界就沒有聲音了。有人走進來，經歷、體驗了，然後再次觀看他人的經歷與體驗，才發現.. 這個作品只有「不同群體的人」構成的不同此刻；沒有真正的成功，也沒有真正的失敗。 —- @peopleconcerto #peopleconcerto #眾人協奏曲 攝影：李佳曄

PULSE! 14.04.2026, Lille With Reich, Glass and Weinberg, Ictus presents a concert of ever-evolving timbre, motifs, and pulses. Two face-to-face percussionists weave across marimba and vibraphone bars, hypnotic repetition guiding you to meditation. #IctusEnsemble #SteveReich #PhilipGlass #MinimalistMusic #LilleMusic

A Liquid Room in the making So nice to welcome the young musicians from the Friuli Venezia Giulia Ensemble here in Brussels for an intense weekend of masterclasses. We had days full of laughs, screams, cries, loud silences, and deafening gestures: we buried it all in the music and we’ll leave it all on the floor. To be continued… Many thanks to Associazione Progetto Musica and hats off to our mentors: Eva, Francois, Igor, Chryssi, and Anita. #IctusEnsemble #BrusselsMusic #GoriziaMusic #Experimental #associazioneprogettomusica