Kugoni Trio
Kurt Bertels – Alto Saxophone
Nicolas Dupont – Violin
Bert Koch – Piano
The Kugoni Trio have been highly respected guests in concert halls both in Belgium and abroad since their founding in 2010; they owe this not only to their unique blend of piano, violin and saxo- phone but also to their energetic performances and their passionate search for new repertoire.
They are frequent guests in many Belgian cultural centres and have already performed in the Palais de Beaux-Arts and Flagey in Brussels, the Academiezaal in Sint-Truiden, AMUZ in Antwerp and the Concertgebouw in Bruges.
The have also performed at Iedereen Klassiek (Bruges), the Cultuurmarkt (Antwerp), KlaraFestival (Brussels), BumaClassical (Utrecht) and the Festival Van Vlaanderen.
Abroad, the Kugoni Trio have already given concerts in Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
They are particularly interested in Belgian works and have been an active source of inspiration for Belgian contemporary composers. The Trio commissions several works each year and has already given the first performances of works by Erik Desimpelaere, Jeroen d’Hoe, Hanne Deneire, Wilfried Westerlinck, Benjamien Lycke, Paul Steegmans, Gareth Moorcraft, Kristina Arakelyan, Jan Van Landeghem and Jan-Hendrik Van Damme.
The Kugoni Trio took part in the CD Mockingbird (2015) of works by the Belgian composer Wilfried Westerlinck and also collaborated on the CD Fingerprints (2016) with the Componisten Archipel Vlaanderen (ComAV), Radio Klara and Flanders Arts Institute and presented its own artistic profile with its debut CD Timelapse (2016).
The Kugoni Trio has recorded for Radio Klara, Musiq3 and Radio4 (NL) and has also appeared on the TV channels Cultuur7 and Canvas.
They were awarded first prize in the Supernova 2014 and Forte Limburg 2015 competitions. The trio was a resident ensemble for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons at SWUK Flanders. In February 2018 the Kugoni Trio was the recipient of the prestigious ‘Fuga Trophy’, awarded by the Union of Belgian Composers for the promotion of Belgian music.
The bright prospects ahead of this young ensemble include more concerts, more first performances and more collaborations with contemporary composers.Next season’s collaborations include
works by Wim Hendrickx, Mathias Coppens and Jeroen D’hoe, as well as International composers such as Gareth Moorcraft (GB) and Zita Bruzaite (LT).