‘We can be a trio, or a group of 13, or two percussion players and one voice,’ says Koenraad Hofmann, the artistic director and double bass player of chamber ensemble Oxalys. ‘We don’t like to keep the same people playing together all the time. It can lead to stagnation and tensions within the group. I know of some groups who play together but can hardly be in the same room as each other outside rehearsals!’

Oxalys began life in 1993, created by a group of students from the Brussels Conservatory of Music. And the ensemble keeps up its studies today, working with musicologists to rediscover unknown works by great composers and bring little known authors to the attention of the public. ‘We will combine a concert of Mozart with something like Ferdinand Ries’flute quartets. People would never buy a CD by Ries if they’ve never heard of him, but they will come to hear the Mozart and leave really impressed with this composer they haven’t come across before.’

Oxalys performs any repertoire, from Bach to the present day, and its flexibility extends to its concert programmes: ‘It can start with a trio and end with 10 of them playing together,’ says Hofmann. ‘It keeps the audience interested. You can play a concert you think is really beautiful, but if there is no one there to listen...

‘We have a duty to make classical music part of our society,’ he goes on. ‘We don’t play music for the millions but we want to make it more accessible to younger people.’ The group, which receives €230,000 in government funding this year, also works in tandem with Flemish composers; it is currently putting together a new version of Pelléas et Mélisande for the ensemble.
Oxalys collaborates with other artists and art forms as much as possible. A notable instance was in 2000, for the start of Brussels as the European Capital of Culture they worked with an Irish folk group, who play by ear, Hofmann recalls. ‘At first it was hard because it was Galician female a cappella choir, a jazz piano player and a flamenco dancer among others. Entitled House of the Hidden Bits of Music, it was a creation of LOD's Dick Van der Harst. 'It was incredible to be playing with people who play in such different ways, such as the Irish band who play by ear, Hofmann recalls. 'At first it was hard because it was such a clash, but on the night people were fighting to get in.'

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Source: Gig, June 2009