Airboxes
The duo of these two exceptional accordionists is indispensable in the Belgian folk scene. They found each other as a duo (they have known each other forever) in 2015 and in 2019 we could finally welcome them for the first time in Colditz. Both play almost the same instrument, but the different sound coloring and the self-composed melodies will take you on a journey into a magical world, where intimate solos and colorful interplay alternate in perfection. All those who know their respective other projects like Variomatic or Les Bottines Artistiques can already guess what awaits them in terms of consummate perfection.
Airboxes are two men, two accordions, one story.
Bert Leemans – chromatic accordion
Guus Herremans – diatonic accordion
Emily & The Simons
The music of the Anglo-Belgian Balfolk Trio is inspired by the encounters of life and the energy of the dance floor. Their style is expressive and improvisational, full of passion, tenderness and playfulness. With a wide-ranging repertoire from exquisite, sensual mazurkas to joyous, driving bourrées, their music hijacks the imagination, moves the feet and fires the spirit.
Emily Bowden – violin
Simon Dumpleton – accordion
Simon Laffineur – guitar
Marion & Steve
The duo Ludwig/Ellis plays exclusively their own compositions, inspired by traditional European dance music with influences of other musical elements, in particular from classical music, jazz and musette. Their music offers a variety of sounds, attuned to the characteristics of the different dances, from quiet and romantic to rhythmic and upbeat. The melodies accompany the dancers into the world of emotions.
Marion Ludwig – accordion
Steve Ellis – clarinet, accordion, piano
Nubia
Dancing, fun, music, pleasantness, dreaming, clouds, that's what Nubia stands for. Nubia plays music to dance on, or to listen to while drifting away on a day dream.
Kris van 't Klooster – mandolin
Tim Hofmeester – guitar
Noiranomis
Friends of more traditional folk music can dance themselves into a trance with Marion and Simon. French vocals and Belgian accordion playing unite to a harmonious mixture. So simple, so good...
Marion Blanchard – chant
Simon Gielen – accordion
Mathæus Bech Quintet
Mathæus combines his experiences and inspirations from jazz, folk and classical music and blurs the boundaries between genres in his music in a sympathetic and masterful way. He strives to continue the proud Danish tradition of virtuoso and solo double bass players and wants to show us music lovers that the double bass does not have to fade into the background. In his luggage he has not only his instrument, but also four friends who will form a terrific quintet with him.
Signe Schmidt – violin
Arendse Nordtorp – violin
Anna Østerby – accordion
Villads Hoffman – mandola
Mathæus Bech – double bass
Familie Gerstenberg
The Gerstenberg family plays traditional and own music for dancing pleasure. Waltz, Schottisch, Bourrée or Mazurka, sometimes played powerfully as a band, sometimes soloistically and finely. Variety is the number one priority for this jolly family. With pipes, bellows and strings they weave a carpet of sound on which you can dance with relish.
René Pütsch – cornemuse du berry, hümmelchen (small german bagpipe), guitar
Thomas Strauch – thuringian forest zither, guitar, ukulele, chant
Marcus Fabian – accordion, schäferpfeife (shepherd's whistle), soprano saxophone, chant
Duo FA
Anna and Fine are not newcomers per se, because both have been rocking sessions and stages of the balfolk scene for several years. But what's new is that they play together and thus make their great love for balfolk music a shared experience. FA is not just a sound, but with both musicians a feeling and a balanced mixture of fine melodies.
Anna Gaide – accordion
Josefine Schlät – violin
Plume
The band takes us on a captivating journey to the rhythm of the furious bow of the erhu (traditional Chinese violin) and the untamed riffs of the guitar. Behind the scenes, the root notes unrolled by the Jew's harp and the energetic punctuations of the didgeridoo set the mood for the gentle melodies of the accordion.
This atypical trio, with its exuberant enthusiasm, exudes an original power, a characteristic timbre and a unique cohesion that keeps the pulse of folk music as its horizon and improvisation as its vanishing line.
Aymerick Tron Alvarez – accordion, guitar, looper
Li’Ang Zhao – erhu (chinese violin)
Jérémie Bonamant Teboul – accordion, didgeridoo, jew's harp, shruti box, string tambourine, whistles
La Sylva
The three musicians of La Sylva alternately evoke a Cretan village feast or a ball under the stars in the Ariège and take you into a storm of strings! Between carefully rearranged pieces and three-part compositions, it goes from roots to canopy, from syrto to mazurka, from gentle togetherness to unbridled trance! A wild and handsomely inventive string trio!
The group combines virtuosity and carefully crafted arrangements with a solid knowledge of the rules of Bal Folk, for a dreamlike journey to the Balkans!
Gaëtan Coutable – violin, chant
Lina Belaïd – violoncello, chant
Fabien Bucher – guitar, mandolin, chant
GrandLoup
Louise and Patrick met under a bridge ... on the banks of the Loire. They combine music, song and dance to form their Bal Folk Duo GrandLoup. You can expect original readings of the folk repertoire as well as unreleased compositions. Inspired by the renaissance of neo-folk groups, Louise and Patrick want to serve dance and evoke emotion by drawing from the diversity of influences that have shaped their musical careers.
Louise Legrand – violin, chant
Patrick Chamblas – piano
Hartwin Dhoore Trio
Apart from performing as a solo artist in a more fragile and intimate setting, Hartwin loves the magic of creating and performing music with other musicians.
Pavel Souvandjiev (Hartwin’s cousin) grew up in a musical family and plays the violin since the age of four. Starting off with classical music education as a child, he came home in the trad & folk music scene around the age of 14. The safe harbour where he is mainly known as one of the founding members of the successful trio ‘Aerokorda'. Being gifted with excellent violin skills, his presence in the trio lifts the music into a higher universe.
Flavia Escartin (Cello) grew up in the Catalan countryside in a farmhouse between vineyards and beautiful nature landscapes. The influence of these surroundings make her style organic and ineffable. But she also has roots in the West. With her Belgian mother she regularly visited her grandparents in the city of Ghent and she is currently based in Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Flavia also performs often with her sister Laia under the name 'Escarteen Sisters' and collaborates often with musicians from the Jazz and World music scene. Her groovy chops and fluent bowing techniques make the trio's repertoire swing like a train.
Hartwin Dhoore – Akkordeon
Pavel Souvandjiev – Violine
Flavia Escartin – Cello
You!
Five days of music, from the beginning to the end, from the first up to the last floor. And you right in the middle of it all or only for you. Music and ensemble workshops will be awaiting you. Rehearsal rooms will want to be filled and fulfilled with the sound of your ideas.
Alas, take your flutes, hurdy gurdies and accordions, violins, guitars and pianos, rattles, boxes and spoons! Take your feet, hands and voices and make music! For you, for us, for everyone; from breakfast 'til session! :-)
