Community concerts at the Heysel vaccination center
For several years now already, the Music Chapel has put “Community” projects among its missions: the aim is to bring our young musicians in residence in contact with audiences who do not have immediate access to music. Indeed, by sharing their talent with the sick in hospitals, with people in great difficulty, with migrants, the disabled as well as inmates and guards in the prison environment (Ittre prison), these young artists and the Music Chapel are participating in a social and cultural mission with these communities: they constitute memorable experiences for all those involved, whether the musicians, the team or the audience.
Activities organized during the pandemic
From the very first lockdown in March 2020 already, the artists in residence at the Music Chapel felt a real need to help alleviate the suffering caused by the coronavirus. While strictly adhering to the sanitary measures, they performed fifty concerts in the gardens or large indoor spaces of rest homes (Le Vignoble, les Ursulines, Vivalys), hospitals (Cliniques de l’Europe de Bruxelles, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc), psychiatric institutions (Clinique Sans Souci, Centre Jean Titeca, Epsylon network), institutions for the disabled (Horizons Neuf), institutions dealing with children in difficulty or with disabilities (Marie Henriette, Irsa, École Escale, Le Bateau Ivre) and day-care institutions for people in difficulty (Nativitas, Convivial). These were travelling concerts. The artists proposed programs that did not always require piano accompaniment. This made it possible to visit wards where patients could not be moved (or only very little), such as departments devoted to geriatrics, dialysis and palliative care. These concerts were exceptional moments shared by the artists, the public and the nursing staff of the institutions.
By playing in the waiting hall of the Heysel, the Music Chapel hopes to help raise awareness about the vaccination campaign against the virus, the primary solution to ensure that the cultural sector, too, can fully resume its activities. Between 31 May and 24 June, from Monday to Friday between 14:00 and 15:00, musicians will perform in the heart of the vaccination center, with piano accompaniment.
On 22 June 2021 they will be at the Fond Roy psychiatric center, where they regularly give concerts. In September, October and November, they will perform at the Jean Titeca and Sans Souci psychiatric centers, the Ursulines and Vignoble nursing homes, and the Convivial and Nativitas associations.