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Roll over Beethoven

Beethoven Pianoforte Sessions for Kids

BOZAR joins forces with Jeugd en Muziek Brussel and the Jeunesses Musicales de Bruxelles to put together a video geared for children, their parents and grandparents, teachers and all those who want to experience Beethoven’s piano music other than just by listening. Explore the music with your hands, your body, through singing, playing or admiring the visual creations of illustrator Larissa Viaene.

Since December, BOZAR has given audiences the opportunity to delve into Beethoven’s music as it would have sounded in his day. During the Beethoven Pianoforte Sessions, expert musicians of the fortepiano, the ancestor of the modern piano, will play music by the famous composer whose 250th birthday we recently celebrated.

The video prompts young and old to take part in an interactive and fun experience drawn from the recitals of Sayuri Nagoya, Ronan Kernoa and Piet Kuijken. With family or your primary school class, learn about the music of Beethoven with your hands, by singing, through play or by connecting it to a visual experience.

Hands are the common thread that will guide you through the video. Follow them and allow your emotions to flow! Watch the hands of the pianists as they play, hands that illustrate and draw, and hands that impel you to move to the rhythm. Throughout the video, artist Larissa Viaene illustrates music with collages, een monotype and shadow plays. At other times, organisers from Jeunesses Musicales and Jeugd en Muziek Brussel will show you the movements to follow with your fingers or your hands.

Share your experience with us! We’d love to see how the young and old experience the activity. Feel free to make a video or to take photo of yourself in action, and send it to us before April 1, 2021 at mathilde.schmetz@bozar.be. We’ll publish the best of your experiences.

Programme

Ludwig van Beethoven
Moderato e grazioso, from Rondo in C Major, Op. 51/1
- Musician: Piet Kuijken
- Illustration: Larissa Viaene

12 Variations on "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" from Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, for fortepiano and cello, in F Major, Op. 66
- Musician: Sayuri Nagoya (fortepiano) & Ronan Kernoa (cello)

Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13, "Pathétique"
- Musician: Sayuri Nagoya

Credits

Coordination, Concept & Creation
Mira Dejonge - Jeugd en Muziek Brussel 
Isabelle Sainte-Rose – Jeunesses Musicales de Bruxelles 

Interactions
Isabelle Sainte-Rose & Sterre De Raedt  

Illustrations & Animations
Larissa Viaene & Sophie Vanhomwegen