The 9th International Festival of Gregorian Chant will be held at Watou (Poperinge) from 24 to 28 May. The festival is held every three years. As always it brings together the best choirs in the world, and its success continues to grow. “Even for those who don’t understand Latin – explain the organizers – Gregorian chant is a noble and serene genre of music. It is a universal chant whose roots go back to the 5th century, but which still retains its actuality in many cultures”. Over 20 choirs from 17 countries are expected to perform at this year’s festival: men, women and children. The cycle of “virtuous women”, together with eight monumental paintings executed by Lambert Lombard for the Cistercian abbey of Herkenrode in the mid 16th century, forms the centrepiece of the exhibition (now running) dedicated to the Flemish Renaissance painter in Liege, his birthplace (Museum of Walloon Art), coinciding with the 500th anniversary of his birth. The cycle of oil paintings on canvas will also be at the centre of a conference to be held in the University Theatre of Liege on 16 May; the participants will include the restorer Livia Depuydt-Elbaum and the art historian Pierre-Yves Kairis.
