The Invites Ensemble - under the direction of Wouter Vandenabeele

The ensemble is formed by the course participants of ‘The Invites Ensemble course’. A music workshop organised by Roots in Tune, a non-profit organisation aiming to connect people from different cultures through music and the arts.

Under their program ‘The Invites’, Roots in Tune wishes to encourage members of the community to invite an artist from their culture or country of origin to Ireland and organise an event with them.

The ‘invité’ in this case is Wouter Vandenabeele, a Belgian violinist and composer from Ghent. He is invited by Els Lemahieu, a Belgian musician who has been living in Ireland since 2015.

The ensemble workshop with Wouter takes place in Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, from April 8th till April 13th 2026. Approximately 25 musicians from Belgium and Ireland are invited to join and form the Ensemble during the project. The project will include a day with Irish guest tutors Bríd Harper and Joe McKenna who will teach some Irish tunes that will be integrated in the repertoire and arranged by Wouter for the ensemble.

Wouter is known in Belgium and abroad for his wonderful artistic work and projects such as, Hyraeth, Fiddlers on the move and the folk/worldmusic bands ‘Olla Vogala’, ‘Ambrozijn’, 'Tamala' and ‘The Ghent folk Violin project’. He is experienced at leading and composing for large folk and world music ensembles and participated as an artistic mentor on several ‘Ethno’ projects around the world. Wouter’s first steps into the world of Folk and traditional music was through his love for Irish music, over the past decade he discovered and mastered many other music styles from around the world which will be reflected in the the repertoire of ensemble.

The ensemble will start of the evening with their concert and will continue with an informal jam session open to everyone who wishes to join the fun.

https://www.rootsintune.ie/programs/the-invites/2026-wouter-vandenabeele-ensemble-workshop