The Festival
Following a hugely successful inaugural event, the International Chamber Classics Festival (ICCF), organised by CMDI Group in collaboration with the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, returns to Belgium once again in 2026, continuing its mission to bring together outstanding young musicians and leading international pedagogues in a celebration of chamber music at the highest level.
Taking place from the 28th of April to the 1st of May, the festival will be held at two of the country’s most prestigious venues, namely the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel itself, and the Musica Mundi School, and will be offering an intensive programme of masterclasses and concerts led by a distinguished faculty.
Indeed, the 2026 teaching team includes such luminaries as Italian pianists Enrico Pace (Accademia Internazionale di Imola, Italy) and Giuliano Mazzoccante (Conservatory of Music ‘Luisa D'Annunzio’, Italy); German cellist Claudio Bohórquez (Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler”, Germany); Belgian violinist Yossif Ivanov (Royal Conservatory of Brussels), as well as violists Mihai Cocea (Conservatorium Maastricht, Netherlands) from Romania, and Matthew McDowell (Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Belgium) from the USA, all of whom are internationally active artists with strong pedagogical experience.
Additionally, two concerts are scheduled as part of this 2026 edition, with performers set to include Enrico Pace, Claudio Bohórquez, Matthew McDowell, Mihai Cocea, Yossif Ivanov, and Giuliano Mazzoccante, as well as students from the festival cohort, with the most accomplished students set to be selected to perform alongside their professors, offering them a rare opportunity to showcase their artistry in a professional concert setting.