BELGIAN flautists will trill Bratislava's Main Square July 21.
photo: Courtesy of Jozef Pauly Ensemble
TWO Belgian ensembles come to join the Bratislava Summer of Culture 2005 this week. Aglaja dance troupe will roll out its show on Tuesday and the Jozef Pauly Ensemble flute ensemble will deliver a concert on Thursday. Both groups will appear on the Main Square.
Dance group Aglaja, named after the youngest of The Three Graces by Sandro Botticelli, will perform an energetic and colourful dance with waving flags. Jan Dewulf, an art teacher in the Belgian town of Bruges, founded the group 60 years ago.
Two days later, 29 members of the 36-musician Jozef Pauly Ensemble will take to the stage on the Main Square.
The ensemble has a unique combination of different flutes - piccolos, alto flutes, bass flutes and a double bass flute - accompanied by guitars, a bass guitar, piano and drums.
"We play a variety of music, ranging from Baroque to more contemporary and popular music. Amongst others we perform works by William Boyce, Rodrigo, Johann Strauss junior, Keith Amos and Kander & Ebb," said Wim Buyens from the Jozef Pauly Ensemble, named after the founder of the Municipal Academy of Music in Ekeren, Antwerp (Belgium).
Several local composers, including Michel Verkempinck, have written music especially for the flute ensemble, which has won international awards and toured Europe, including the former Czechoslovakia. In 2001 they toured Australia, and in 2004 spent three weeks in America.
"Last year we did an exchange with a Flute Choir from Maryland, USA, and played in the Kennedy Center in Washington DC," Buyens said.
Prepared by Spectator staff
