Musical introduction: Ensor and his contemporaries

James Ensor (1860-1949) achieved worldwide fame with his symbolist paintings. That he also wrote and played music is less known to the general public. In 2024, it will be 75 years since his passing. The Ensor Year 2024 pays tribute to the Belgian grandmaster - innovator, game changer, inspirer, and ... complex personality.

In September 2024, Antwerp, the city with the largest Ensor collection in the world, takes over from his birthplace, Ostend. The focus is on Ensor's enduring relevance through cross-pollination with various art forms. A perfect match with the range of assets that Antwerp offers throughout the year.

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and sister institution, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), join forces with many partners to pay homage to Ensor as an all-round artist. For one week, we celebrate the opening of the exhibition "Ensor's Boldest Dreams" at the museum.

On Friday 4th October, you will encounter Ensor as a musician and composer at the Queen Elisabeth Hall. In a lecture preceding the concert, Herwig Todts, curator at the KMSKA and passionate Ensor expert, will reveal the deeper layers of Ensor's creative universe while Jan Michiels touches the piano keys to bring to life the sound world of the Ostend grandmaster. An excellent opportunity to discover Ensor's masterpieces in a new way and explore the harmony between his painting and music!