Interview with Kit Armstrong and Jan Caeyers at the Beethovenfest Bonn 2026

Conductor Jan Caeyers and star pianist Kit Armstrong have already performed an impressive series of Beethoven concerts together. How did they meet? Who invented the Beethoven27 project? Which performances are coming up soon? Read on.

Hi Jan and Kit, how and when did you meet?

Jan: The Konzerthaus Wien wanted to bring us together for a joint concert in June 2022. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out due to the pandemic. We were then able to perform together in Belgium in January 2023.

Kit: Of course, I was already familiar with the name Jan Caeyers from his Beethoven biography. When I received the invitation to perform with Le Concert Olympique and him, I said yes straight away. Not just because I had great admiration for him, but simply because I wanted to learn something – about Beethoven. 

Jan: It was very interesting for me to perform Beethoven’s piano concertos with Kit, because he is also a composer – and, moreover, a very skilled improviser. He is very close to Beethoven’s language. For him, virtuosity is merely a means to an end that takes place here (taps his head).

So who came up with the idea for such a major project as Beethoven27?

Kit: After we’d played our first concerts, we really got talking. On a musical level, there was a great rapport anyway.

Jan: I remember it very well: after the second concert, we drove for an hour and a half; my wife was the driver. We hardly knew each other. I still regret that our conversation wasn’t recorded back then. For it was a profound discussion about what music is, what laws it follows, and how we engage with it. Undertaking a joint project spanning several years was then actually a natural consequence.

What is the overarching idea behind the project?

Jan: At the outset of our deliberations, we wanted to do something fundamental together: a Beethoven cycle. However, that in itself is nothing new. Many orchestras have recorded all the symphonies. Our concert series is characterised by a special journey: through nine stages of Beethoven’s life. Each stage consists of a combination of a symphony and one of the nine concertante works (the five piano concertos, the ‘Triple Concerto’, the Violin Concerto, the piano version of the Violin Concerto and the Choral Fantasy). These are complemented by either a chamber music work or a piano sonata that relates thematically and chronologically to the symphonic works. 

Kit: Each concert programme represents a creative phase in Beethoven’s life. We discover what it was like to be Beethoven at a particular moment in his life.

This combination of symphonic works, a solo concerto, chamber music and even a solo piano sonata is unusual. What are the benefits of this?

Kit: For me, this kind of concert programme is particularly exciting, as I can perform in a single evening as a solo pianist, a chamber musician and as part of the orchestra. It’s also varied for the audience.

Jan: With Beethoven, the interplay between genres is very important. If you want to understand the language of the symphonies, you must first and foremost understand the language of the piano sonatas – and vice versa. Hearing both side by side in a concert in such a focused way is enlightening. We believe that, overall, through this work we are bringing about a paradigm shift in the interpretation of Beethoven.

What does this paradigm shift consist of?

Jan: It’s almost impossible to explain in words. Our interpretation primarily provides answers to the connections between detail and overall architecture. Every detail, every orchestral part, is shaped by a directed process. I can really only achieve this with Le Concert Olympique, because this orchestra has a completely different, freer way of working than is usually the case.

Kit: One principle shapes our collaboration and the orchestra itself: a humble attitude. We don’t ask ourselves what the music can do for us, but what we can do for the music. That’s what sets us apart from many other performers. It requires a fundamental trust between us and with the audience.

What is your collaboration like during rehearsals?

Jan: When we rehearse, even the smallest prompts and hints are enough. I’m regularly amazed at what Kit makes of my ideas. 

Kit: This interplay is very intense between us. When we spend two hours together in the car, we talk very seriously the whole time: not just about music, but about the whole constellation of life. For us, everything outside of rehearsals and concerts is also part of the rehearsal process. ‘Work’ is actually a poor word for it.

Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier opens every concert. How does the listening experience of Beethoven change when you also hear Bach alongside it?

Kit: Beethoven studied Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier whilst composing, to find inspiration. We recreate that in the concert. We always select the preludes and fugues in the key that suits the piece that follows. The effect is astonishing.

Jan: A concert is a clash between different worlds, our modern one and the past. Bach’s extremely pure music helps us to shape this rupture – so that we can listen to Beethoven with the right mindset.

Can you give us a preview of the three concerts from your cycle that await us at the 2026 festival?

Jan: In Bonn, we will be performing the first three programmes of the cycle within a 26-hour period for the first time. Each represents a stage in the development of Beethoven’s heroic style. The works were composed before, during and after the Heiligenstadt crisis. You can experience how the intensity and scale increase. Performing these three stages in succession will transform both the audience and us musicians.

Thank you, Jan and Kit, for making time for this interesting interview. We already look forward to your next performance!

Foto: copyright Koen Bauters