Toots 100

Birthday Celebration

In 2022 we celebrate the 100th birthday of Toots Thielemans, famous jazz musician & Brussels ketje, with a series of tribute concerts, expos and other events.

Today, the 29th of April 2021, we celebrate the 99th birthday of Toots Thielemans, exactly one year before his 100th birthday, which will not go unnoticed.

In collaboration with his wife Huguette Thielemans, the Private Foundation Toots Thielemans – manager of the artistic heritage, the Legacy of Toots Thielemans – a non-profit organisation and visit.brussels, various activities will be organised in 2022 for the 100th anniversary of Toots Thielemans.

Toots Thielemans:

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the man who touched us all with his disarming personality and who gave to the world more than just musical beauty…

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the virtuoso musician who had been involved in all the main jazz styles of his time and who wrote masterful songs and soundtracks that have become a part of our collective memory…

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the “Marollien” and cosmopolitan who put Brussels and Belgium on the map…

On April 22nd of 2022, a temporary exhibition “Toots 100. The Sound of Toots Thielemans” will open at the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) in collaboration with the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM). The aim of the exhibition is to make visitors of all ages discover the sound of Toots in an immersive and interactive way, based on the impressive collection of documents concerning Toots and held at KBR and the MIM. This unique collection contains sound recordings, pictures, drawings, letters, printed and manuscript scores, various objects and, last but not least, the personal instruments that Toots played throughout his life.

The last weekend of April 2022 will be entirely devoted to Toots’ 100th birthday, with a unique birthday concert at Bozar on April 29th of 2022, featuring national and international guests and supported by a big band and an orchestra. The musicians will journey through the musical life of Toots and – in a world premiere – perform a suite specially composed and arranged for the occasion. More information about the concert and the start of ticket sales will follow at the end of May 2021. During this last weekend of April 2022 weekend, his birthday will be suitably celebrated at other locations in Brussels.

This birthday weekend will mark the start for extensively celebrating Toots in the subsequent months in the city centre of Brussels as well as across the entire Brussels region, with various activities that will keep the memory of Toots. Brussels Jazz Weekend and Brosella Festival are just a few examples. Festivities around Toots’ 100th birthday will also be held throughout Belgium as well as internationally.

For more information about all the activities taking place during this anniversary year, follow us at:

toots100.be
www.instagram.com/tootsthielemans
www.facebook.com/TootsThielemans

If you’re planning to organise an activity or event yourself?
Let us know!