‘Brussels Philharmonic plays Zorn & Zappa’

Ars Musica kicks off its contemporary music festival in BOZAR with the orchestral works of John Zorn and his idol, Frank Zappa. Their upbeat, anarchistic urge to experiment is reflected two surprising concertos: one for theremin – an instrument that is played without being touched! – and one for barrel organ. Genre boundaries are attacked and replaced with a highly original mish-mash of forms and styles. Zorn also thinks it’s a great way of countering musical racism: “I consider anyone who only loves country but doesn’t like the blues or who only loves classical music and doesn’t listen to rock music a racist”.