Wim Mertens | solo piano and voice

Renowned Belgian composer, pianist, and guitarist Wim Mertens is set to perform for the first time in Warsaw with a solo concert featuring piano and voice. Taking place at the POLIN Museum, Mertens will showcase his original film music, including compositions from Peter Greenaway’s The Belly of the Architect, Pierre Boutron’s Fiesta, and Marion Hänsel’s Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. This performance invites listeners into the distinct musical realm of the artist, who integrates vocal elements into his works by singing in a high voice, employing a language of his creation. Alongside Philip Glass and Michael Nyman, Mertens is recognized as one of the leading creators of minimalism.

Born in 1953 in Neerpelt, Wim Mertens has performed numerous solo and ensemble concerts across Europe, North and Central America, Japan, Thailand, and Russia. His educational background includes studies at the Brussels Conservatory, graduation in political and social sciences at K.U. Leuven, and musicology at R.U. Gent. In 1998, Mertens was appointed a Cultural Ambassador for Flanders. His compositional repertoire spans various genres, from short, accessible songs to intricate cycles, and features arrangements ranging from solo piano to chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras. Starting with his 1980 album debut, For Amusement Only (an electronic composition used in pinball machines), he has released over 65 albums.

Mertens is also celebrated for his theater music compositions, having crafted music for piano and voice for silent films such as The Woman from Nowhere by Louis Delluc and The Land Beyond the Sunset by Harold Shaw. Additionally, he composed and performed music for Christian Dior’s men’s collection at the 2008 Paris fashion show.

The list of compositions

• Birds For the Mind
• The Paths Not Taken
• The Scene
• The Weight of The Height
• La fin de la visite
• The Land Beyond the Sunset
• Not at Home
• Humility
• Far
• Houfnice
• Doubly Distanced
• Et pourtant
• Iris
• Maximizing The Audience
• Passend
• The Grasp Of Letting Go
• Often A Bird
• Prudence
• Close Cover
• Struggle For Pleasure

*Program may be subject to change. All compositions composed, arranged and performed by Wim Mertens.

Music from the following films:

• The Belly of An Architect, dir. Peter Greenaway (UK/Italy 1987)
• Je pense à vous, dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne (Belium/Luxembourg/France 1992)
• The Land Beyond the Sunset, dir. Harold M. Shaw (USA 1912, music from: 1994)
• Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, reż. Marion Hänsel (Belgium/France/UK 1995)
• Entre Flore et Thalie, dir. Françoise Levie (Belgium 1999)
• Nós Que Aqui Estamos por Vós Esperamos, dir. Marcelo Masagão (Brazil 1999)
• Qui Vive, dir. Frans Weisz (Netherlands 2001)
• 1,99 – Um Supermercado Que Vende Palavras, dir. Marcelo Masagão (Brazil 2003)
• Der Lebensversicherer, dir. Bülent Akinci (Germany 2006)
• Huhwihaji anha, dir. Hee-il Leesong (South Korea 2006)
• Metamorphism, dir. Claerhout-Van Biervliet (2008)