Colors of Spain solo program
Emma spreads out her wings with her debut program Colors of Spain.
Countless guitar composers share a common love - Spain. An affection in which the country in all its musical colours appears in the imagination. Even for Scarlatti's sonatas, Spain was a source of inspiration. Its colours range from Baroque to Romanticism, from Spanish folklore to 20th century pearls and from the Romantic to the classical guitar.
She brings works from the Antwerp Emmanuel Adriaenssen, Domenico Scarlatti, Paco de Lucia, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Joaquin Rodrigo, Isaac Albéniz, the brothers Eduardo en Regino Sainz de la Maza etc performed on different period instruments (vihuela, Lacôte guitar ca. 1820, classical guitar)
4-7-8 solo program
Emma Wills' second program 4-7-8 is an emotional journey featuring music by composers who often have more than one identity and lay claim to various artistic traditions, genres, or audiences. The repertoire ranges from John Dowland to Johann Sebastian Bach, Frederic Mompou, Benjamin Britten, Joni Mitchell, Marc Ribot, Francis Poulenc and Angelo Gilardino.
Stretching almost 5 centuries, these pieces are bound together by Wills' journey for selfsoothing and boundaries through the sounds of the classical guitar. A whole host of other feelings are not to be avoided, fixed or solved, but experiences to be deeply felt. This music reflects the intimate nature of meditation.
Swan Song
with cellist Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde
Ganymed - Duo Marotel
Douce Joie - Duo Como
Nova - Duo Como
Emma Wills (René Lacôte guitar ca.1820) and Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde (Thomas Dodd cello ca. 1800) began their collaboration for the renowned Musique Antique Festival.
Enthralling audiences with rarely heard repertoire and historical instruments, their program ‘Swan Song' resurrects the intimate beauty and charm of a bygone era. With composers like Friedrich Dotzauer and Frédéric Burgmüller crafting captivating works that showcased the instruments’ unique blend of sonority. In this program they combine works originally written for this instrumentation with their own arrangements of lesser-known compositions by female composers like Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann, breathing new life into these forgotten gems. Along the way, they pay homage to the familiar music of Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert, creating a program that is both captivating and enriching.
Emma and Thomas Boodts met at the Museum Vleeshuis I Sound of the City in Antwerp where they are both house musicians. It was there where they decided to combine original historical instruments from the museum's collection to form Duo Marotel.
Ganymed is a musical program symbolically charged with ''Sehnsucht''; longing for another world, nature, and unrequited love. In this program Emma Wills and Thomas Boodts perform works by F. Schubert, F. Carulli, F. Chopin, F. Sor and J.K Mertz.
For more information about Thomas: www.thomasboodtspiano.com
Emma and Sebastian, their musical taste goes far beyond traditional genres. They love light, elegant classical music from past and present, but also jazz, outspoken rhythms and southern influences. Duo Como plays, and also arranges, well-known and lesser known works by A. Piazzolla, J.S. Bach, R. Galliano, B. Lagrene, R. Balkanski, T. Gubitsch, etc.
Their first program is called Douce Joie, a colourful program full of the sweet joy of warm, blissful summer evenings and love for music. In this program Emma & Sebastian take you through rhythmic, joyful, playful, and also sensitive atmospheres with a gentle summer breeze.
For more information about Sebastian Enriques you can visit his website: www.sebastianenriques.com
This time, Duo Como presents a classical program 'Nova'. Classical but not so classical. Emma and Sebastian are looking for their own language within the range of the classical repertoire for the unique sound of the guitar and the accordion. In addition to the sweet summer atmosphere of their first program 'Douce Joie', they now include their color palette on guitar and accordion with hits from composers such as Vivaldi, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Rodrigo, Bach, Glass, etc.
Always vibrant, refreshing and surprising, this unique duo immerses you in a new sound world. They premiered Nova in March 2024 in a completely SOLD OUT CC De Steiger.
Δelta Ensemble
Delta is an ensemble specialized in early music, with a focus on Renaissance and Baroque. Starting from old scores and books, they try to embody the image of the performing, but also singing, composing and improvising musician from that period. In addition to an insatiable hunger for study and a love for new sounds, the ensemble mainly wants to excite people with fascinating stories on stage that bridge the gap between the past and the present.
Adriaan Lauwers: artistic director, theorbo, baroque guitar, voice
Emma Wills: vihuela, chitarra battente
Ann-Sophie Eiselé: viola da gamba
Programs:
''Il Fiammingo della Tiorba, Philippe Vermeulen”
''Señor Sinjoor''
Witte vlinders - musical storytelling
with actor Lukas De Wolf
WITTE VLINDERS, based on the poems PLATERO AND I by Juan Ramón Jiménez, reconciles a selection of Spanish - translated to Dutch - poems with classical music, southern folk music, Renaissance songs, improvisation and lute music. Film, music and poetry merge into a beautiful story. Cast: Lukas De Wolf, Emma Wills (artistic direction, lute, guitar), Sebastian Enriques (accordion), An-Sofie Moons (soprano) and An Bosmans (clarinet).
Actor Lukas De Wolf (Loslopend Wild, De Dag,…) takes on the role of the narrator and collides and twists his way with the music from soft and sweet to furious and swirling, ending with purification. Witte vlinders received standing ovations at MoMeNT Cultural Festival in Tongeren, coStA Antwerp, CC Leopoldsburg, Zomerfabriek and De Carrousel.
The story tells the memories of the writer from the village of Moguer, about the encounters and wanderings with his best friend and donkey, Platero. They poetically describe the carefree, simplicity and transience of the untouched nature and life in Andalusia. The carelessness, simplicity and transience of life in the unspoilt nature of Andalusia come to life.
Echoes of Spain - duo w/ Fleur Strijbos
Fleur Strijbos (soprano) and Emma Wills (guitarist) both already made their passage as Promising Musicians at "The Twintigers" of radio station Klara - Emma in 2022, Fleur in 2024. Now they are joining forces for the 'Walden Festival'. They present 'Echoes of Spain' with Spanish influences, which reflects the longing for Spain and the emotion of love. Discover the fiery passion and moving melancholy of Spain in works by Enrique Granados, Fernando Abrados, Joaquin Rodrigo, Kurt Weill, Manuel de Falla and Sebastián Yradier.