Brecht Valckenaers

Brecht Valckenaers (°2000, Leuven) is a versatile pianist and composer who combines his love for classical and contemporary repertoire with original compositions and improvisation.

He studied for eight years with Nikolaas Kende at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and is currently continuing his studies with Claudio Martínez Mehner at the Hochschule für Musik Basel and with Eliso Virsaladze at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.

Brecht has won awards at various competitions, including the Steinway Piano Competition, Cantabile Piano Competition, Breughel Piano Competition, Le Concours de Piano Andrée Charlier, and the EPTA Piano Competition. He has performed multiple times as a soloist with orchestra and appeared in venues such as Bozar, Flagey, deSingel, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, and Bimhuis Amsterdam. His compositions – characterized by a strong rhythmic inventiveness – have been featured several times on national radio and are enthusiastically received on YouTube.

Following an acclaimed performance at Festival 20·21 in 2024 with his project Ex Nihilo, Brecht is excited to be Artist in Residence at this festival for the upcoming editions.

Brecht is driven by a desire to constantly explore and push his own musical boundaries. He views music as a language to be experienced in all its facets: reading and reciting through performing classical and contemporary repertoire, speaking through improvisation, and writing through composing.