Paul Heyman - cellist

I am happy and proud to introduce you to one of our most talented musicians, Paul Heyman, a 20-year-old cellist from Brussels.

He is currently studying with Raphael Wallfisch at the ZHdK in Switzerland. He also studies the Baroque cello with Roel Dieltiens.

Paul has taken part in masterclasses with such artists as Frans Helmerson, Arto Noras, Natalia Gutman, Gary Hoffman, Pieter Wispelwey, Gavriel Lipkind and Leonid Gorokhov.

He has performed in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands and his performances have taken him to such venues as The Royal opera “La Monnaie” and Flagey in Brussels, the Flemish Opera hall in Gent, The Royal Palace “Het Loo” in the Netherlands, the Miry-hall in Gent, and the Brussels Summer Festival, to name a few.

Several of the pieces which Paul has recorded have been broadcast on national television in Belgium.

At an early age Paul studied with the great Belorussian pedagogue Vladimir Perlin, whose fundamental method and ideology on how to approach music formed the basics of Paul's cello playing.

Before moving to Switzerland Paul was studying with Olsi Leka in Brussels.

Paul plays a cello which was made for Julius Klengel in 1893 by W.H. Hammig in Leipzig, Germany, kindly loaned to him by Mr. Charles Rose from London.

You can hear Paul perform on his website 

http://www.paulheymancellist.com

Spring is in the air

Random

 Just a few random but typical Brussels shots.

Hippodroom restaurant Antwerp

 Quite unexpectedly, showing an out of town visitor around,  we ended up at restaurant "Hippodroom" located in the trendy "Zuid" area of Antwerp at the Leopold De Waelsquare.  The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, across the street,  is closed for extensive renovation until 2017.
I thoroughly enjoyed the evening,  the friendly reception at the Hippodroom, the food, wine, ambiance...  I recommend that you put this restaurant on your list for your next visit to Antwerp and hope to be back myself very soon. 
http://www.hippodroom.be

Brussels' Midi Market

Plenty of local websites and bloggers will tell you about the colourful Sunday morning market near Brussels' South station, aka the Midi-market, about the abundance of fruits, vegetables, cheap clothes, household things, plants and flowers, about the African and/or Mediterranean spirit but what struck me most this morning was that Magritte and Tintin are never far away. 

Carnival in Binche and Aalst

Carnival in Belgium is a feast for participants, bystanders and photographers. 

I did not make it this year and dug into the archives to show you examples of past celebrations in both Wallonia and Flanders.

Binche, home of the Gilles who march through town on the beat of drums in their typical costumes, carrying baskets of oranges which they throw at the public watching the parade.  The yellow mimosa flower is also typical for the Binche carnival.

(http://whatisbelgium.blogspot.be/2012/02/binche-carnival.html)

Aalst (or Oilsjt in the local dialect) where Prime Minister Michel participated yesterday in the ritual of throwing onions - replaced in recent history by candy- into the public.

http://whatisbelgium.blogspot.be/2013/02/carnival-in-aalst.html

To avoid any misunderstanding, there is a lot of ambiance all over the place and carnival in Belgium is not just about throwing things at people.

Forest's beautiful squares

 Forest/Vorst is one of the municipalities of Brussels, home to beautiful squares such as Constantin Meunier and Altitude 100, both close to Parc Duden which offers a perfect green escape on a sunny Sunday.