Under the Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen
Since 2021, the ASBL Young Belgian Strings has added a new project to all those it is already developing:
“Music comes to you”.
What is it about?
The health crisis has highlighted many societal problems. Each of us has certainly been made aware of them and has
able to use his skills to deal with it or to improve certain aspects of it.
The project of our ASBL Young Belgian Strings was born from the fact that young musicians were deprived of income during the Covid crisis. We absolutely wanted to help them survive by finding patrons who would feed a Fund (the “Friends of the Young Belgian Strings” Fund, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation). This Fund allowed the ASBL to finance 6 concerts in small groups, in private spheres between September 2021 and March 2022.
Then, as the days went by, we realised that a more specific audience needed us: all those people living in rest or care homes who are unable to travel to access culture.
So we decided to go to them: “Music comes to you”
This first year of projects has met with extraordinary success. Requests from retirement homes, care homes, and hospitals have been very numerous.
An intensive collaboration has also developed with the CHIREC - Delta hospital where our musicians perform in the neonatology, dialysis, pediatrics and oncology departments.
From December 2021 to June 2022, we organized 10 concerts in different places in chamber music version and 2 concerts with the grand orchestra. We gave a work opportunity to more than 50 musicians.
Jean Van Aa Residence - Ixelles
Huize Sint-Monika - Brussels
Heysel House - Brussels
King Baudouin Residence - Woluwe Saint Pierre
ASBL Epsylon - Uccle
Sainte Gertrude Residence - Brussels
Ter Ursulinen - Brussels (rest home and crèche)
The wind rose - Brussels
In addition, between May 2 and 12, 2022, in collaboration with “Klarafestival takes care of you” we produced 6 septet concerts for people with physical or mental disabilities or social dropouts.
Les Jardins du 8ème Jour (structure dedicated to people with mental disabilities)
La Maison des Couleurs (Accommodation center for the deaf and hard of hearing)
Epsylon (Psychiatric Care Network)
HAMA IV Les Châtaignes (Accommodation for adults with mental disabilities)
WZC Ter Ursulinen (Residence for the elderly)
Vzw Mandragora (Activities of sheltered housing for people with psychiatric problems)
The ‘La Musique vient à Vous’ department, in collaboration with the Maisons de quartier and the City of Brussels, organises free concerts specially aimed at people in precarious situations or who feel alienated from classical culture. These events aim to make music accessible to those who cannot afford to go to a concert or who may feel out of place in traditional cultural venues.
In January 2024, more than 1,600 people were able to attend an exceptional concert free of charge at Bozar, one of Brussels' most prestigious cultural venues. This initiative enabled people from working-class neighbourhoods, the elderly, refugees and precarious workers to discover a quality show under privileged conditions. The aim is to break down the social and economic barriers that can sometimes exclude certain audiences from access to culture.
Buoyed by the success of this first edition, a second edition of the project is planned for January 2025.
Together with ASBL Remua and the Cassandra and Singing Molenbeek choirs, we will continue to offer a unique opportunity to enjoy an enriching musical experience in a prestigious setting, while promoting encounters and social inclusion through music.
This project illustrates our desire to democratise access to culture and strengthen social ties in a city like Brussels, where inequalities can be a major barrier to access.
Thanks to the generous contribution of our donors, we have been able to provide work opportunities to more than 80 musicians and reach more than 2000 people .
It was an extremely enriching experience for all those who benefited from these unforgettable concerts.
Our musicians are also deeply touched by the joy and happiness they can bring with their music.
To continue this magnificent adventure, we need our donors because it is thanks to them that this project can continue and thanks to their financial contribution that this project is viable.
Every stone added to the building builds the future of youth.
You can support us by making your donations to the account of the Fund "Les amis des Young Belgian Strings"
managed by the King Baudouin Foundation.
Donations of at least 40 euros made to the King Baudouin Foundation give rise to a tax reduction of 45% of the amount actually paid.
The administrators, the musicians of Young Belgian Strings, the managers of the rest residences, the care homes, the activity coordinators, the psychologists and all the residents are warmly grateful to them!
The managers of the venues where the Young Belgian Strings have played have repeatedly expressed their gratitude to us.
“A little late, on behalf of the Residence, we would like to thank you for this emotional moment.”
“As you may know, the Residence (…) welcomes a disadvantaged public.
Many of them unfortunately did not have access to culture.
For this concert, we were hoping to have five Residents present.
Know that around thirty Residents came! And really enjoyed this moment!
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"The quartet was very attentive to the requests of some, they were able to adapt their musical proposals for the pleasure of all."
“The last 2 concerts with our Duo in the Résidences were a great experience! We are quite happy that we were so well received and how the residents and staff react to our music. "
The director was super happy and even asked us to make sure to talk with the team in charge of this cycle of concerts, to see if it is possible to repeat it more often with us! So, if it is possible, for us to play more often at CPAS (…), we all would love to do so! “
“We are super glad how it turned out and inspired by these moments that we shared.
We spread some smiles... Thank you for the opportunity that you gave”
“We would love to come back and play for you, we were very well received and we loved the reactions from people during the show.”
“On behalf of the entire team, we thank you for this moment of musical escape that is so precious for some of our elders.”
"We are coming back to you to find out when the next concert could take place given the enthusiasm of the residents last time."
“I had very positive feedback; our residents really appreciated it!”
“I wanted to thank you for all the organization.”
“We are happy that we were able to spread some joy”.
Please do not use the photos outside of this folder.
