Ictus is a Brussels-based contemporary music ensemble. Since 1994, it has shared the premises of the P.A.R.T.S dance school, and the Rosas company (headed by Anne-Teresa De Keersmaeker) with which it has collaborated on fifteen productions, from Amor Constante to Repertoire Evening. Ictus has also worked with other choreographers including Wim Vandekeybus, Maud Le Pladec, Noé Soulier, Eleanor Bauer, Fumiyo Ikeda, Etienne Guilloteau and Claire Croizé.

Every year, Ictus performs in Brussels for an entire season, in partnership with the Kaaitheater and Bozar. This season, Ictus will experiment again with programmes for a culturally aware but non-specialist audience: theatre, dance, performance and music enthusiasts. The ensemble examines formats and ways of listening: very short or very long concerts, mystery programmes, « Ictus Invites » experimental series, large scale projects with Brussels Philharmonic, guided concerts, concerts-cum-festivals where the audience is free to roam between stages (the famous Liquid Room performed all over Europe).

Ictus has shared, and sometimes amplified, current questions about the future of contemporary music. Initially led by conductor Georges-Elie Octors, at a time when ensembles saw themselves as mini-orchestras made up of highly technical soloists, Ictus mutated into an “electric orchestra” and hired, for example, a regular sound engineer as an instrumentalist. It then became a multifaceted collective of creative musicians, dedicated to experimental music in the broadest sense. The story isn’t over.

Among the twenty or so CDs released by Ictus, both albums devoted to Fausto Romitelli on the Cyprès label have been particularly influential due to their interpretation and their bold mixes. Ictus now shares its releases between the SubRosa label and the Bandcamp platform, while documenting its work on YouTube.

Ictus is conducting an advanced Master’s programme that focuses on contemporary music interpretation, in collaboration with the Ghent School of Arts. More information, a blog and lots of audio materials are available on this website.