Lieven Bertels


Lieven Bertels is a Belgian musicologist, impresario and festival curator.

Education and early career

Born in Hasselt, Bertels received a master's degree in Musicology from the University of Leuven, followed by a master's degree in Composition from Durham University - Collingwood College. He subsequently engaged in PhD research on Mimesis in Music Recording at Surrey University, whilst working as a Tonmeister and record producer.

RITCS Film, Radio and TV School

From 1994, Bertels started lecturing at the RITCS Film, Radio and TV School in Brussels, teaching subjects including audio technology, music recording, audio art, sound for animation movies and acoustics. He continued to teach at RITCS until his departure to Australia in 2011

VRT and Concertgebouw Brugge

Since 1998 Bertels worked as a researcher and a producer for Belgian national broadcaster VRT, both for the cultural TV Channel Canvas and for Cultural radio channel Klara. In 2001 Bertels was invited to become the first artistic director of the Concertgebouw Brugge, a new multi-room arts venue purpose-built for Bruges 2002 European Capital of Culture. Bertels' programming was noticed for its eclectic mix of genres and artists, which pushed the Concertgebouw on the international stage with coproductions including Heiner Goebbels. London Sinfonietta and Warp-DJs, and permanent installations by Edgard Varèse and Dirk Braeckman.

Holland Festival

From 2004 to 2011 Lieven Bertels worked for the Holland Festival as artistic coordinator under festival director Pierre Audi. He was responsible for music programming and visual arts collaborations including projects with Devendra Banhart, Anthony, John Baldessari, Laurie Anderson and Mike Patton. From 2010 to 2016 Lieven Bertels served on the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Performing Arts in New York.

Sydney Festival and Leeuwarden 2018

From 2013 to 2016 Bertels was the Festival Director at Sydney Festival, the largest arts festival in the southern hemisphere. His tenure brought a return to large-scale open-air installations including Florentijn Hofman's Giant Rubber Duck or Jeremy Deller's Sacrilege, alongside an expanded festival village in Sydney's Hyde Park which included Spiegeltents and outdoor entertainment. His performing arts program included opera, contemporary dance and theatre and indie music from around the globe with artists including Rokia Traore, Peter Sellars, Thalia Theatre Hamburg, Vivienne Westwood, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, James Thierrée, Gotye, Joanna Newsom and The Flaming Lips. Over his four-year tenure, Bertels turned the festival from annual financial losses to a budgetary surplus. In 2015 Bertels joined the team of Leeuwarden Fryslan 2018 European Capital of Culture in the Northern-Dutch province of Friesland as Cultural Director. From 2016 he became the CEO of the organisation.

The Momentary, Arkansas

On September 1, 2017 Bertels was announced as the inaugural director of The Momentary Lieven Bertels#cite%20note-5|, a new arts space in Bentonville, NW Arkansas which is slated to open in 2020 as a satellite to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Awards and distinctions

Lieven Bertels was appointed Knight of the Order of the Crown in 2013. In 2016 he was shortlisted for the Christophe Plantin Prize