Minimalism repeats and recycles. It twists and turns. It pauses without ever standing still. Since pioneers Philip Glass and Michael Nyman took their first steps in the world of film music, minimalist film music has moved audiences and has been in motion. To this style of film music, and its impact, we dedicate Film Fest Gent’s annual symphonic concert.
By definition, film and television music is constrained, in that it usually needs to support the image and the story. A minimalist approach often seems well-suited to serve that purpose, but – more significantly –the mantra of ‘less is more’ has proved to have a lasting effect on the contemporary approach to scoring for screen. This evening we welcome and spotlight two composers exemplifying the legacy of minimalism, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch and Martin Phipps, who have given the style a contemporary and electronic twist.
Both composers were influenced by Philip Glass and Michael Nyman – household names in minimalist music (in fact, in contemporary classical music) whose film works we celebrate this evening. This is not the first time that we have heard their film music in concert at Film Fest Gent:
in 1991 Michael Nyman presented his music in concert and in 2015 his work also featured on the programme of the Great British Film Music Concert; in 2013 Philip Glass’s Kundun was one of the highlights in the concert Scoring for Scorsese. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the WSA Ceremony & Concert, we are honoured to present the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award to both composers for their contribution to the art of film music.
Thank you to all composers, musicians and partners who have made this concert possible. We hope you enjoy the music!
Become a member of the World Soundtrack Academy
Are you a composer for screen or a film music industry professional? Join the World Soundtrack Academy to help decide who wins the annual World Soundtrack Awards and participate in our WSA industry and networking events!
Wim De Witte Programme Director
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MINIMALISM IN MOTION: GLASS, NYMAN AND BEYOND
MICHAEL NYMAN
The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982)
“A Watery Death”
“Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds”
MARTIN PHIPPS
The Crown (2019-2023) & The Princess (2022)
“Diana’s Suite”
MICHAEL NYMAN
Drowning by Numbers (1988)
“Trysting Fields”
The Piano (1993)
“The Heart Asks Pleasure First”
“Here to There”
“Lost and Found”
“Dreams of a Journey”
PHILIP GLASS
The Hours (2002)
“Movement III (Finale)”
EMILIE LEVIENAISE-FARROUCH
Living (2022)
“County Hall”
“Tent”
De Slag om de Schelde
(The Forgotten Battle) (2020)
“Goodbye Dirk (End Credits)”
All of Us Strangers (2023)
“Diner”
PHILIP GLASS
Cello Concerto no. 2: Naqoyqatsi (2002)
“Intensive Time”
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
“I Knew Her” Kundun (1997)
“Sand Mandala”
“Chinese Invade”
Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Dirk Brossé, hosted by Carlo Siau
The Hours, Stephen Daldry (2002)
ABOUT THE MUSIC
Born out of experimental music, the musical movement that became known as minimalism has had an enormous impact on the art of film music. As far back as 1968, it was actually Michael Nyman who (“accidentally”) coined the term ‘minimal music’, when a musical piece reminded him of minimal art. “What’s interesting about this so-called ‘minimalist music’ is how rich it is,” Philip Glass said in an interview with NPR in 2015: “The description doesn’t come close to telling you what you hear.”
Rather than just providing an overview of minimalist classics from film music history, this concert programme aims to demonstrate just that impact, and thus the evolution of minimalist music for screen, linking several generations of composers. The Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Maestro Dirk Brossé performs selections from the film works of WSA Lifetime Achievement honourees Philip Glass and Michael Nyman, interspersed with music by Emilie LevienaiseFarrouch and Martin Phipps, adding a contemporary dimension to the evening.
Highlights include music from Martin Scorsese’s Kundun, which can also be heard on Film Fest Gent’s 2013 album Scoring for Scorsese, several pieces from Jane Campion’s The Piano, a suite from the television series The Crown and a new orchestral arrangement of “Diner” from Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers.
PHILIP GLASS
WSA Lifetime Achievement Award 2025
One of the most influential composers of the 20th century, Philip Glass has been associated with minimalism in music time and again. Nevertheless, Glass has tried to distance himself from this label, as he prefers to be known for composing “music with repetitive structures”.
When compositional experiments using limited materials appeared in the 1960s, he became a key figure in the minimalist movement. Alongside Glass, this new musical language was being developed by La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Meredith Monk and Steve Reich, among others.
Besides his operas, symphonies and other concert works, Glass has made an equally impressive contribution to the art of film music, with a rich oeuvre of film scores that include Koyaanisqatsi, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, The Truman Show, Kundun, The Hours and Notes on a Scandal, for which he received two WSA nominations in 2007. His characteristic repetitive music intensifies the cinematic experience, redefining the meaning and the potential of film music. He influenced not only famous film composers like Hans Zimmer, but also bands like Radiohead, Brian Eno, David Bowie, Aphex Twin, Ravi Shankar, David Byrne and Natalie Merchant, all of whom connected with Glass at some point in their careers.
MICHAEL NYMAN
WSA Lifetime Achievement Award 2025
With a distinguished career as a composer, librettist, critic and musicologist, Michael Nyman is best known to film audiences for his unforgettable scores, including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, The Piano and Gattaca. His frequent collaborations with filmmaker Peter Greenaway led to one of the most renowned director/composer partnerships in film history, and include The Draughtsman’s Contract, A Zed and Two Noughts, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and Prospero’s Books.
His score for Jane Campion’s The Piano in 1993 became an enormous success, selling over three million copies worldwide, going platinum, and earning nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. Nyman’s education in baroque music and his interest in incorporating musical elements from the 17th and 18th centuries into a more modern context made him a unique figure in the group of minimalists he is so often associated with. Like no other, Nyman knows how to combine sounds from different genres and eras.
EMILIE LEVIENAISEFARROUCH
Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
is a London-based French composer and pianist acclaimed for her emotive and meticulously crafted scores. She has garnered widespread recognition for her work on several highprofile projects. Her work in film ranges from psychological horror (Censor, The Strays) to empowering coming-of-age tales (Rocks),
romantic fantasy (Andrew Haigh’s BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated All of Us Strangers) and poignant dramas (Living). More recent work includes the score for the series
The Agency, directed by Joe Wright, Fleur Fortuné’s feature debut The Assessment, and Heldin, the new film by Petra Volpe which was presented at the 75th Berlinale.
In addition to her film work, she has collaborated with visual artists, created music for video installations, and released three solo albums and an EP under FatCat Records’ post-classical sublabel 130701.
With a body of work that spans film, visual art and music performance, she continues to be a distinctive and influential voice in contemporary music, celebrated for her engrossing compositions that resonate across multiple mediums.
MARTIN PHIPPS
Martin Phipps is a British composer who has written music for some of the most renowned TV series in recent times, including Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror, BBC’s War & Peace, Black Doves and Netflix’s global phenomenon The Crown. Coming from a musical background (Phipps is Benjamin Britten’s godson), he studied drama at Manchester University, but later decided to concentrate his energies on writing music.
Most recently, he wrote the score for Ridley Scott’s epic Napoleon. Other film and television score credits include Woman in Gold (co-composed with Hans Zimmer), The Aftermath, Black Doves and The Princess. Since scoring his first TV drama, Eureka Street in 2002, Martin Phipps has won 2 BAFTAs, 5 Ivor Novello Awards and received multiple Emmy and World Soundtrack Award nominations.
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
The world-renowned music of the minimalist masters will be performed by a world-renowned orchestra: Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Maestro Dirk Brossé. They are joined by concertmaster and violinist Otto Derolez, cellist Karel Steylaerts, and pianist Anastasia Goldberg.
DIRK BROSSÉ
Conductor & composer
Dirk Brossé is a multi-faceted composer and a respected conductor on the international music scene. Since 2010, Brossé has been music director of The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, music director of Film Fest Gent and honorary conductor of Sinfonietta Cracovia. He has composed 400 works, including concerti, oratorios, lieder, chamber music, symphonic works, musicals and film scores. His score for the BBC/HBO series Parade’s End was nominated for an Emmy Award. His score for Knielen op een bed violen was nominated for the Golden Calf Award and his score for Our Nature was awarded the WSAward Best Original Score for a Belgian Production. Maestro Brossé has conducted all the leading Belgian orchestras. He has conducted over 120 orchestras all over the world such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Opera, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Camerata St. Petersburg,
Hong Kong Philharmonic, l’Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Shanghai.
Brossé has made over 100 CD recordings and has collaborated with world-class artists such as José Van Dam, Barbara Hendricks, Julia Migenes, Julian Lloyd Webber, Salvatore Accardo, Alison Balsom, Hans Zimmer, Emma Thompson, Randy Crawford, Lisa Gerrard and Marcel Khalifé. He has been awarded the title of Cultural Ambassador of Flanders, the Flemish Parliament’s Gold Medal for Merit, the Achille Van Acker Prize, the Joseph Plateau Honorary Award and the Global Thinkers Forum Award for Excellence in Cultural Creativity. In 2013 he was elevated to Belgium’s hereditary nobility, with the personal title of Knight. He is a member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts and since 2018 a Fellow at the University of Brussels (VUB).
CARLO SIAU Host
Carlo Siau works for Klara, Flanders’ classical music radio station, where he presents ‘Iedereen Klassiek’, ‘De Keuze van Klara’ and ‘De Twintigers’. As a freelance presenter and host, he has worked with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Brussels Philharmonic, among others.
BRUSSELS PHILHARMONIC
“The
world needs symphonic music. And symphonic music needs the world.”
That is the firm belief of the Brussels Philharmonic. As a symphony orchestra founded in 1935 under the auspices of the Belgian public broadcaster, unveiling the symphonic world as best we can is deep in our DNA. By innovating while maintaining full respect for the value of the past, we keep the symphonic music of the past, present and future relevant and inspiring. We do this from the historic Studio 4 at Flagey in Brussels, together with our music director Kazushi Ono: he shares our open and adventurous spirit and our rock-solid belief in the need for crossfertilization between art, life and society.
The vision of Kazushi Ono, an experienced conductor whose reputation crosses continents, cultures and genres, overlaps in so many ways with that of the orchestra: the authenticity with which the great
repertoire is kept alive, the permanent quest for innovation and evolution, the commitment to giving the music of today and tomorrow a central role, and the passion for sharing the love of symphonic music widely and generously.
That sharing takes place first and foremost in our home port at Flagey, where the orchestra rehearses, performs and throws open the doors to its activities, as well as on the major stages and at festivals in Flanders. The orchestra’s international reputation comes to the fore in its specialisation in recording soundtracks (including the Oscar-winning music for The Artist), the many successful recordings for labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, and the ambitious projects on prestigious stages around the world (Carnegie Hall, New York, Philharmonie de Paris, Musikverein Wien, Grosses Festspielhaus Salzburg, Cadogan Hall, London).
OTTO DEROLEZ
CONCERTMASTER & SOLOIST
Otto Derolez has been the concertmaster of Brussels Philharmonic since 1999. He is considered one of the leading violinists of Belgium, and as of 2012 has been Faculty Professor at YOA Orchestra of the Americas, coaching young musicians all over the world. Otto made his debut with the Brussels Philharmonic in 1999, with Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. With this orchestra he has performed the world premières of violin concertos by Jeroen d’Hoe and Michel Tabachnik, both dedicated to Otto Derolez. His performance of John Williams’ Violin Concerto has been highly acclaimed, as well as the Alban Berg Violin Concerto which he performed with Brussels Philharmonic under the baton of Carlos Kalmar.
Otto Derolez studied at the Royal Conservatories of Ghent and Brussels, with professors such as Rudolf Werthen, Kati Sebestyén and Philippe Hirschhorn.
He graduated from the Internationale Musikakademie für Solisten (IMAS) in Wolfenbüttel (Germany) under the guidance of André Gertler. He also received support and guidance from Yfrah Neaman.
As a soloist, Otto has performed in prestigious concert halls all over the world, including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Festival Hall in Osaka, Cité de la Musique in Paris, just to name a few. An active chamber musician, he has been a member of the Prometheus Ensemble since 1992. With this ensemble he recorded Schubert’s Octet and Trout Quintet, Stravinsky’s l’Histoire du Soldat, Schoenberg’s First Chamber Symphony and Transfigured Night.
KAREL STEYLAERTS
Karel Steylaerts studied at the Brussels Conservatoire with Carlo Schmitz and at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with Maria Kliegel. As a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra he worked under great conductors such as Leonard Bernstein. He was a prize winner of the 1990 Tenuto competition.
Since 2008 Karel Steylaerts has been Principal Cellist at the Brussels Philharmonic. Over the years, he has founded the Tröndlin Pianoforte Trio with whom he made several recordings, and TrioFenix, a string trio that performs at many national and international festivals. Since 2017, he has been associated with the Queen Elisabeth Competition for cello.
ANASTASIA GOLDBERG
Anastasia Goldberg received piano lessons from the age of six. Throughout her youth, Anastasia was a piano soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of her birthplace Yekaterinburg, performing on domestic and international tours. Later, she studied at the Mussorgsky Ural State Conservatory and the North Netherlands Conservatory.
A sought after soloist, Anastasia Goldberg has worked with many great conductors like Michail Jurowski and Michel Tabachnik. She premiered M. Tabachnik’s Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto in F.
Furthermore, she shares her expertise being part of the jury of the International Piano Competition in San Sebastian, a competition she once won herself. She teaches at the Maastricht Conservatory.
MUSICIANS
Dirk Brossé, conductor
Otto Derolez, concertmaster & soloist (violin)
VIOLIN 1
Bence Ábrahám (1)
Bart Lemmens (2)
Olivia Bergeot
Annelies Broeckhoven
Cristina Constantinescu
Justine Rigutto
Elizaveta Rybentseva
Alissa Vaitsner
Isabelle Dunlop
Zoltán Csaba Kovacs
Milagros del Moral
VIOLIN 2
Mari Hagiwara (1)
Samuel Nemtanu (1)
Mireille Kovac
Sayoko Mundy
Eline Pauwels
Stefanie Van Backlé
Rui Edgar Maia Gomes
Julien Poli
Sophie Hutnik
Anna Zaitseva
VIOLA
Mihai Cocea (1)
Griet François (2)
Marina Barskaya
Thi Ngoc Phung Ha
Hélène Koerver
Stephan Uelpenich
David Blanco De Paz
VIOLONCELLO
Karel Steylaerts (1)
Julius Clément
Emmanuel Tondus
Aliaksandr Auramchyk
Karin Broeckhove
Maria Palazon
DOUBLE BASS
José Vilaplana Herruzo (1)
Simon Luce (2)
Thomas Fiorini
Daniele Glampaolo
Luzia Correia Rendeiro Vieira
FLUTE
Lieve Schuermans (1)
Célestine Wacquez
Jill Jeschek (2)
OBOE
Joris Van den Hauwe (1)
Emily Ross
Lode Cartrysse (2)
CLARINET
Anne Boeykens (1)
Danny Corstjens (2)
Midori Mori (2)
BASSOON
Karsten Przybyl (1)
Alexander Kuksa
Jonas Coomans (2)
HORN
Hans van der Zanden (1)
Luc van den Hove
Mieke Ailliet (2)
Reindert Geirnaert
Lars Wachelder
Marlies Callebert (2)
TRUMPET
William Castaldi (1)
Luc Sirjacques
Marcel Degotte
Francisco Funina
TROMBONE
Lode Smeets (1)
Tim Van Medegael (2)
Daniel Foeteler
TUBA
Jean Xhonneux (2)
TIMPANI
Gert D’haese (2)
PERCUSSION
Jonathan Beyers (2)
Stijn Schoofs (2)
HARP
Eline Groslot (2)
KEYBOARD
Erik Brabants (2)
Anastasia Goldberg (2)
GLOSSARY
(1) principal (2) soloist
PARTNERS
THESE CONCERTS ARE MADE POSSIBLE BY
CREDITS
Produced by
Film Fest Gent
In collaboration with Brussels Philharmonic
Composer
Philip Glass
Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
Michael Nyman
Martin Phipps
Orchestra
Brussels Philharmonic
Conductor & Music Director
Film Fest Gent
Dirk Brossé
Host
Carlo Siau
Programming
Dirk Brossé, Music Director
Wim De Witte, Programme Director
Hanne Schelstraete, Music Projects Coordinator
Patrick Duynslaegher, Consultant
Thomas Van Parys, Consultant
Film Fest Gent
Marijke Vandebuerie, General Manager
Wim De Witte, Programme Director
Hanne Schelstraete, Music Projects Coordinator
Katrien Destuyver, Concert Producer
Myrte Trioen, Concert
Production Assistant
Mathijs Poppe, Video Editor
Tuur Mattheeuws, Motion Graphics
Kim Verthé, Press & Communication
Sven Hollebeke, Communication & Website
Alexander De Man, Communication & Website
Emma Steurs, Guest Service
Caro Willaert, Guest Service
Lien Puttemans, Ticketing
Jessica Bonte, Sponsorship & Protocol
Michiel Philippaerts, Programmer
Nathalie Decock, Management Assistant
Brussels Philharmonic
Gunther Broucke, General Manager
Tom Pipeleers, Artistic Administrator
Judith Van Eeckhout, Artistic Administrator
Jim Seynaeve, Head of Production
Thomas Geurts, Head of Stage Management
Emma Touchot, Casting
Pieterjan Hermans, Librarian
Walt Bladt, Stagehand
Claudio Porru, Stagehand
Tim Martens, Stagehand
Muziekcentrum de Bijloke
Wim Clapdorp
Tineke Codron
Aaron Benoit
Katrien Van Gysegem
Xavier Lecompte
Björn Van Severen
Erian Van Hecke
Video & Stage Direction
Andries Vangeel, Director
Eva Hendriks, Assistant Director
Birger Embrechts, Score Advisor
Jeroen Buyse, Stage Manager
Styling World Soundtrack Awards
Studio BigFish
Programme Booklet
Marijke Vandebuerie, Publisher
Wim De Witte, Editor-in-Chief
Hanne Schelstraete, Editor
Texts Booklet
Alexander De Man, Thomas Van Parys, Myrte Trioen
Design, Motion Graphics & Pre-press
Mutant™
Special Thanks
Mario Bois, Jana Dejonghe, Katie Ellwood, Annette Gentz, Richard Guerin, Talia Morey, Wise Music, Andrew Skeet, Seyedarian Sadrayimousavi and the entire Film Fest Gent team. Our partners, all members of the World Soundtrack Academy and all contributors for their enthusiasm and expertise.
This production was created with the support of the Tax Shelter measure of the Belgian Federal Government through Beside Tax Shelter.
