LUTHOMANIA SEXTET ◉ Sound

Three major music cultures meet in a popular and age-old instrument, the lute, here played by a Chinese, a Moroccan and a Belgian. They conduct a dialogue within traditional and new compositions, in which each musician performs his own local color: Chinese pentatonic, Arabic taksim, European baroque and even jazz and contemporary influences. After many concerts and two acclaimed CDs (Périples and Itinérances), Luthomania dreamed of a confrontation with another group of plucked instruments: the harp, an instrument with a millennium-long history. which is frequently found in the same three cultures. The Chinese guzheng, the Arabic qanun and the European baroque harp add a sensual touch to the original trio. This collaboration resulted in the CD 'Peregrina'. In this program the musicians navigate from one culture to another. Luthomania evokes impressionistic and meditative atmospheres, but can also surprise in exuberant explosions of virtuosity.

With Hua Xia (pipa), Philippe Malfeyt (baroque guitar, lute, theorbo, colascione), Abid Bahri (oud), Osama Abdulrasol (qanun), Hannelore Devaere (baroque harp) & Li’Ling Huang (guzheng)