Founded in 1999, Graindelavoix is an Antwerp-based music and art ensemble. Helmed by founder-director Björn Schmelzer, it is committed to offering a contemporary and critical interpretation of mainly historical, vocal repertoires. The ensemble’s artistic allure, distinctive sound, plastic performance style and rigorous programming—the whole characterised by an uncanny touch—makes it both unique and difficult to situate in the current artistic landscape. Its critical questioning of old repertoires—their aesthetic and political dimensions, their displacement and alienation—meanwhile often leads to controversial performances in which the audience is not just challenged but also made complicit.
