© Quentin Chevrier
NOUS SOMMES ORAGE | Bastien David
Ensemble Intercontemporain & Les Insectes, Pierre Bleuse PBA Charleroi - Hangar , CharleroiTwo days after the premiere in Paris: a hypnotic evening where the audience, standing, is put into a trance by 35 instruments.
The legendary Ensemble Intercontemporain, conducted by Pierre Bleuse, comes to Charleroi for a thrilling and hypnotic finale to Ars Musica 2026.
Nous sommes Orage is an ambitious new work by the young French composer Bastien David, receiving its world premiere at the Philharmonie de Paris just two days before this performance. Over the course of ninety immersive minutes, 35 instrumentalists surround the standing audience, gathered around an imposing suspended Burmese bell and a vast circular metallophone—a kind of giant vibraphone designed by the composer himself. Alongside a harmonica organ and a trumpet organ, these specially conceived and custom-built instruments shape the work’s organic, weightless, and rhythmic sound world.
At the heart of the evening lies a compelling question: can unamplified music send bodies into a trance? Can it release our energy, summoning the storm until light finally breaks through?