On September 28th, the 80th anniversary of the Georgian composer Gia Kancheli was celebrated with a magnificent concert of the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra at the Bozar in Brussels. The Georgian Embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs jointly organized this tribute.
Gia Kancheli has lived and worked in Flanders since the nineties. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, he fled to the West. After a short period in Berlin, he settled in Antwerp where he became the resident composer of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders (now deFilharmonie).
After a turbulent initial period, the independent Republic of Georgia increasingly focused on Europe. This resulted in 2014 in the Association Agreement between Georgia and the EU, which was also formally approved by the Flemish Parliament. With this tribute to Gia Kancheli, a Georgian composer who has made a substantial contribution to the Flemish music scene, Flanders wants to further strengthen its ties with Georgia.
