Hiraeth. /Wouter Vandenabeele

In the summer of 2022, violinist and composer Wouter Vandenabeele traveled to the Balkans, Greece, Southern Italy, Catalonia, Andalusia, and Galicia in search of the melancholic soul in music. Over the course of three months, connections were forged with local musicians and minority groups.

Melancholy connects people across centuries and cultures. It is ambivalent: sadness accompanied by comfort or hope, pain accompanied by beauty or joy. With "Hiraeth," we meander through the tonal colors of melancholy, particularly found in Southern European musical cultures (Saudade, Flamenco blues, Balkan music, etc.). It represents a bittersweet, hopeful longing for what is absent and can never be fully present.

Line-up
Livia Giaffreda - tamburello & vocals (Puglia, IT) Francesca Manoccio - vocals (Arbëreshë, IT) Carmen Fernández - vocals (Andalucia, ES) Katerina Douka - vocals (GR) Polis Efraimidis - lyre & vocals (Pontic, GR) Bojan Cvetrežnik - violin & mandolin (SLO) Barja Drnovšek - violin (SLO) Laura Cortese - violin & vocals (USA) Bert Ruymbeek - accordion (B) Jan Debrabandere - guitar (B) Alexander Gavilán - guitar (B) Wouter Vandenabeele - violin (B)

Biography of Wouter Vandenabeele

In his early musical career, Wouter Vandenabeele was active as a musician in the folk group Ambrozijn, a band that played a pivotal role in the folk revival of the 1990s. He further established himself as a composer, arranger, and artistic director of various groups and projects. He also worked in the realm of theater and composed film music.

He founded the world orchestra Olla Vogala, which, under his leadership, carved out a unique place in the Flemish music landscape. With his Chansons series (Chanson sans paroles, Chansons pour la fin d’un jour, Chansons pour le temps qui reste, and Chansons pour les oiseaux qui ne savent pas voler), he reveals his more intimate and subdued side. As a musician in the groups Tamala and Liqa, he once again tells his own story, never excluding encounters with other cultures and genres.

In the summer of 2022, violinist and composer Wouter Vandenabeele embarked on a journey through the Balkans and the Mediterranean region: 10 countries, 92 days, and 11,927 kilometers with the project Hiraeth. This journey concluded with concerts in the autumn of 2022 and will continue with a few festival concerts in the summer of 2023 and a tour of Flemish cultural centers in the spring of 2024.

Other notable projects he has realized include the prestigious Hadzidakis project (the opener of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens), the Moroccan-Flemish project Brared Ataï, and Zuiderwind, a project featuring African musicians. He has performed concerts from Taiwan to Lebanon and all the way to Brazil.