News and Events -----------

On Saturday 14 November, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), under its conductor Kazuki Yamada, together with the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus choir, Trinity Boys choir, soprano Olga Peretyatko, tenor Andrew Staples and baritone Christian Gerhaher will perform Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem at Brussels Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 Brussels. The concert will commence at 20h00 in the magnificent Henry Le Boeuf Hall. More information and a link to book tickets can be found here.

Britten’s War Requiem holds a special place in the CBSO’s repertoire as it was premiered by the CBSO on 30 May 1962 to mark the consecration of the new cathedral in Coventry that replaced the original building destroyed during World War II.

Britten was both a pacifist and an atheist, and he used Wilfred Owen’s war poetry to condemn the role of the church in times of war. Sixty-four years after the première, CBSO conductor Kazuki Yamada has invited the baritone Christian Gerhaher, tenor Andrew Staples and soprano Elena Tsallagova to give voice to Britten’s message of insightful peace. The orchestra is also joined by two choirs and an organ. The performance at Bozar is part of a short European tour that will also take the CBSO to Luxembourg, Freiburg, Lucerne, Nuremburg, and Viersen.

CBSO

For more than 100 years, the CBSO has taken different names and forms. Weathering war, recession, and social change, and evolving from a part-time municipal ensemble into a symphony orchestra with a worldwide reputation.

The Orchestra officially formed on 19 June 1919 with Appleby Matthews as the first Chief Conductor with the first concert given under Matthews' baton at Birmingham’s Theatre Royal on 5 September 1920. The inaugural concert of the Symphony Concerts series was given at Birmingham Town Hall on 10 November 1920, with Edward Elgar conducting a concert of his own works, including his Cello Concerto.

Image City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra © Patch Dolan

The Brussels Branch of the Royal British Legion will be holding its annual Service of Remembrance and Commemoration at the Heverlee War Cemetery, south of Leuven, on Sunday 8 November from 10h30.

The beautiful Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at Heverlee  is the final resting place of more than 1,000 service men and women from seven countries and both World Wars. This year’s event will be held in the presence of His Majesty’s Ambassador to Belgium, H.E. Anne Sherriff.

As in previous years, the service will be joined by veterans, civilians and serving military personnel from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland, the United States and other nations. And, once again, the Military Wives Choir Belgium and Scout groups will also participate.

The cemetery is surrounded by woodland and lies just to the north of the E40. Free street parking is available, but the lanes nearby get busy so allow plenty of time to arrive. Further details in the poster below.

Poppy Appeal

A collection will be taken at the service in aid of this year’s Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, which launches officially tomorrow (22October).

As usual poppies will be on sale at outlets around Brussels and beyond in Belgium in particular Stonemanor. A list of the usual venues is available here, or you can donate direct via the bank details also listed on the webpage.

As ever, every Poppy, every Euro counts.

Two of our favourite community friends, the Brussels Women’s Club and Community Help Service (CHS), are combining for a unique event on Tuesday 3 November. For the first time, one of the anonymous volunteers behind the CHS Helpline is stepping into the spotlight – well, almost. Every CHS listener is known simply as “Pat”, and this Pat will keep her identity hidden for a rare live interview hosted by the Brussels Women’s Club.

Since 1971, CHS has been a lifeline for Belgium’s English-speaking community, and demand keeps growing: thousands of people call its free, confidential 24/7 Helpline every year. The most recent data shows that last year CHS volunteers spent nearly 1,400 hours answering calls – double the figure for 2022.

Find out why Pat volunteers, what people call about today, and how she handles difficult calls. And bring your own questions.

Tea, coffee and cake will follow the interview (included in the fee: €15 non-members, €10 BWC members). Everyone is welcome but registration (via this link) is required before 30 October.

The event will take place on Tuesday 3 November from 14h00 to 16h00 at the BWC Clubhouse. See further details below.

On Monday 12 October the International Study Group (ISG) will hear about the vital work of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF was founded in France in December 1971 by a group of doctors and journalists. Its creation was deeply influenced by the civil war and famine in Biafra and it looked to create an independent organisation capable of delivering emergency medical assistance quickly, effectively, and impartially.

MSF was founded on a simple but powerful conviction: that everyone should have access to healthcare, regardless of their gender, race, religion, beliefs or political affiliation, and that medical needs should take precedence over national borders.

The speaker is Marie-Christine Férir a nurse who has been working with MSF since 1982. With more than 30 years’ experience, she has held several key positions, notably as coordinator of the emergency pool and Director of Operations. She has taken part in numerous humanitarian interventions, including the response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa (2014-2015). She has just returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she was Ebola representative for MSF in Kinshasa.

Where and when

The talk will take place on Monday, 12 October 2026 with a welcome coffee from 10h30 and the talk starts at 11h00. The venue is Château Malou, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. Free parking is available around the Chateau and public transport is close by: Tram 8, stop Voot; Bus 28, stop Deportés or Parc Malou. The talk is free to ISG members. Guests and non-members should pay €15 on entry.

More information on this ISG event here.

From 15 October to 6 November 2026 the Bridge Theatre presents ‘Copenhagen’ – Michael Frayn’s acclaimed play exploring the pivotal and complex meeting between two Nobel Prize winning physicists, Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr, during World War II. The play delves into the ethical implications of scientific discovery, in particular the development of the atom bomb, as both Heisenberg and Bohr grapple with the moral responsibilities of their work in the context of the war.

The two scientists were friends before the world went to war. Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg once worked closely to unlock the secrets of the atom. Then war placed them on opposite sides. When Heisenberg visits Nazi-occupied Copenhagen in 1941 to meet his former mentor, Bohr, and wife, Margrethe, what passed between them has never been agreed upon. As the three revisit that fateful evening, memories clash, motives are questioned, and certainty proves elusive.

Directed and designed by Robert Chevara and starring Eva Fontaine (Amandaland, BBC), Peter Hald (The Bridge, SVT/DR), and Manuel Klein (War Horse, National Theatre), Michael Frayn’s multi-award-winning play Copenhagen returns to one of the greatest mysteries of the Second World War: Why did Heisenberg come to Copenhagen?

Copenhagen will be performed from 15 October to 6 November 2026 at La Maison qui Chante, Rue due Viaduc 122, 1050 Ixelles.

More information and tickets here.

On the evening of Thursday 8 October at 19h00 there will be a special screening of the documentary ‘Dans les Ruches’ at the Cinema Galeries in central Brussels. The screening is part of Mental Health Week, which will feature more than 150 activities across Wallonia and Brussels from 5 to 11 October 2026.

The film follows Anne-Marie, Sarah, and Patricia: three women, three mothers supporting their sons who have mental illness. They invite the camera into their daily lives, sharing difficult moments and glimmers of hope. From their voices gradually emerges a collective narrative, giving voice to the experiences of loved ones, a reality often rendered invisible. The film is in French with Dutch subtitles.

The title of the film means 'In the beehives' and originates from Christophe Hermans' feature film La Ruche about a mother suffering from bipolar disorder and her three daughters. So he wanted to call this film Dans les ruches to explore life inside these family units. Personally, I think the film would have benefitted from its own separate title but this one was in place from the beginning of the project.

The screening will be in the presence of the film’s director Mathias Desmarres and two of the families featured in the film. After the screening there will be a discussion session led by the Brussels Platform for Mental Health.

More details of the 8 October screening and tickets here.

You can catch a short trailer for the film with English subtitles on YouTube here.

You can find out more about the film and dates of other screenings in Belgium and France on the film’s Facebook page.

On the evening of Tuesday 27 October a Gala Charity Concert – A Voice from Ireland - for the Irish Presidency of the EU Council will take place in the Salle Henri Leboeuf, Palais des Beaux-Arts (Bozar) Brussels in support of the Association Femmes d’ Europe’s humanitarian projects.

The concert will celebrate Irish cultural heritage, exile, resilience, and hope through Irish musical traditions, opera, and musical theatre.

Emmet Cahill, Ireland’s young internationally acclaimed star tenor, will feature as the headline performer. Emmet will perform with Mark Redmond, a well-known uilleann pipes player, the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brussels Philharmonic Chorus.

The concert will also be enriched by the performance of a contemporary work by Belgian-Iraqi composer Qoutayba Neaimi.

The concert will be conducted by Maestro David Navarro Turres and create a unique artistic bridge between Ireland and Belgium.

For more information visit the Femmes d’Europe website or the Bozar  event ticketing webpage.

The American Drama Group Europe in association with TNT Britain will bring their world class production of one of Shakespeare’s classic tragedies – Macbeth - to the courtyard of Kasteel van Groot-Bijgaarden on the afternoon of 24 September 2026.

What could be more thrilling theatre than Shakespeare’s Macbeth performed in a castle? The play explores the corruption of power and its terrifying results, both politically and personally. But while the themes are profound and complex, the form is hugely entertaining: this is a thriller, a war story, a romance, a nightmare, a horror story and a powerful presentation of the supernatural.

Macbeth and his murderous wife unleash evil that eventually rebounds upon themselves. Through Shakespeare’s extraordinary poetry, naked ambition collapses into tortured self-doubt and ultimate insanity. The acting is fast and physical. Above all, the production releases the poetic intensity of Shakespeare writing at the height of his powers.

TNT’s production, directed by Paul Stebbings, was the company’s first Shakespeare production and has been constantly revived and toured worldwide since 2001. This might be the most performed production of Macbeth this century. Audiences have thrilled to this production from London to Atlanta, from Beijing to Berlin, from El Salvador to Thailand, and from Australia to Norway. This is a full-blooded version of the play: witch-driven in its intensity. The production is not frightened of the supernatural or compromised by modern dress. But this is not an old-fashioned production; the musical score by Paul Flush drives the play forward and creates a compelling sound texture of almost filmic quality. Forest and castle merge and melt.

The performance at Kasteel van Bijgaarden will commence at 13h30 and tickets, with prices starting at €14, can be obtained from this site.

The 12th century Kasteel van Groot-Bijgaarden is situated in the commune of Dilbeek, just to the north of Brussels, and has a very fine garden being the venue for the annual Floralia exhibition of spring flowers. But from 25 September to 1 November the grounds will be transformed into an enchanting world, full of colour, fantasy and thousands of pumpkins!

More information on Pumpkimania here: https://pumpkimania.be/en

On Monday 14 September the International Study Group (ISG) will explore the science, technology and politics behind Solar Geoengineering (also known as Solar Radiation Modification). This is a controversial and deeply unsettling concept — yet so are the climate impacts already unfolding and projected to intensify. The world is on a trajectory that could reach around 3 °C of warming this century, with rising risks of wildfires, extreme heat and disruption of vital climate systems. Politics will ultimately determine how societies respond to either challenge.

The speaker is Matthias Honegger, Senior Programme Director for Climate Interventions at the Centre for Future Generations (CFG) in Brussels. He leads CFG’s work on the governance of climate interventions. He also directs the Co-CREATE project at Perspectives Climate Research, which advises the EU on responsible research governance for solar radiation modification. With an academic background in Environmental Systems Science (ETH Zurich) and political science (Utrecht University) and more than a decade of experience at the science–policy interface, he focuses on pragmatic, evidence-based approaches to complex climate-technology dilemmas.

CFG was founded to support risk-aware governance of rapidly emerging technologies — remaining outcome-agnostic and non-partisan. This talk will examine recent private-sector activities in the area of solar radiation modification (including Stardust and Make Sunsets), the basic physics of approaches such as stratospheric aerosol injection and marine cloud brightening, and the central governance questions: who is most likely to dominate decisions, how can we broaden who sits at the table, and how Europe, both EU institutions and Member States, can position itself as a constructive third pole rather than a spectator in great-power politics.

Where and when

The talk will take place on Monday, 14 September 2026 with a welcome coffee from 10h30 and the talk starting at 11h00. The venue is Château Malou, Allée Pierre Levie 2, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and free parking is available around the Chateau and public transport is close by: Tram 8, stop Voot; Bus 28, stop Deportés or Parc Malou (easier). The talk is free to ISG members. Guests and non-members should pay €15 on entry.

For more information on ISG visit: https://isgbrussels.be/