Musiq3 Brussels opens with Judy Garland, jazz energy and a queer-tinged promise of escape

The Festival Musiq3 Brussels has opened ticket sales, and this year’s line-up is built around the idea of Horizons: a moving line, always receding, always being reimagined. Running from 25 to 28 June 2026 at Flagey and Marni, the programme moves from Mozart to jazz, from Sufi traditions to Brazilian rhythms, and from Bach to contemporary creation, inviting audiences to travel through music rather than simply listen to it.

At the heart of the opening day is a concert that will likely speak especially strongly to queer audiences: The Amazing Keystone Big Band – Judy Garland, on Thursday 25 June at 7 pm at Flagey, Studio 4. The programme revisits twelve emblematic songs associated with Garland, from Somewhere Over the Rainbow to Get Happy, in a reorchestration that blends jazz vitality with emotional memory.

Judy Garland as icon and echo

Judy Garland’s place in queer culture needs no explanation: she remains one of the great emotional and symbolic figures of 20th-century popular music, a performer whose vulnerability, glamour and theatrical intensity have long resonated far beyond the world of musicals. Musiq3’s concert frames her not only as an American entertainment legend, but as a voice that still carries through generations of listening and reinvention.

The performance is led by The Amazing Keystone Big Band, a French jazz orchestra known for its lively, colourful approach, with Neima Naouri bringing Garland’s repertoire to life. The concert also carries a personal emotional thread, as it was inspired by the wish of Jodie Devos to sing this repertoire with Keystone, turning the evening into both a celebration and a tribute.

A festival built on crossings

Beyond Garland, the 2026 edition of Musiq3 is clearly leaning into musical border-crossing. The programme also includes Vassilena Serafimova, Hélène Escriva & Quatuor Ardeo on 26 June, Open Road with Lorenzo Gatto and Ensemble Karavan on 27 June, and Because with Réginald Mobley and Baptiste Trotignon on 28 June, each exploring a different way of connecting classical music with jazz, improvisation or world influences.

That makes the festival feel especially aligned with queer ways of moving through culture: not by keeping genres sealed off, but by letting them speak to each other. The “Horizons” theme reads less like a slogan than an invitation to imagine music as a shared space of transformation, drift and encounter.

Early bird and useful links

The festival is offering 20% off full-price tickets until 9 June, which makes now the ideal moment to build a route through the programme. Tickets and the full schedule are available through the official Festival Musiq3 page at Flagey and the concert listing for The Amazing Keystone Big Band – Judy Garland.

For the full festival overview, you can also consult the Musiq3 ticket shop and the Out.be programme page.

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