"My music is like a diary. I write about events, encounters, about the things in life that I am concerned about," says Stefan Meylaers in an interview. A portrait, written as it were in compositions between 2000 and 2005. Stefan Meylaers has already had a Phaedra CD dedicated to him, vol. 24 of the "In Flanders Fields" series, containing works written between 1995 and 2000. A true musical biography.

Meylaers writes very accessible music; yet it is highly original, and never cheap. He wants a wide audience, who understand his emotions and feelings. His music has neither complex constructions nor recherche effects. It wants to sing, to fascinate, if possible, to stick in the mind. Thus the composer hopes to truly involve the listener.

Like the first Meylaers CD, this one calls on no fewer than a dozen musicians: singers Françoise Vanhecke, soprano, and Marc Meersman, baritone; the Ludwig Marszalek String Quartet; Frank Hendrickx, flute; Andy Dhondt, saxophone; Stephan Simons, euphonium; Carlo Willems, vibraphone; and Geert Callaert and the composer himself as pianists.

At present Stefan Meylaers is hard at work writing music for the 60th anniversary of the United Nations, music that will be performed in Carnegie Hall, New York, on October 12 of this year.

Program:

- Arcana
- Love Song
- New Orleans
          The storm
          The sorrow
          The hope
- Dream
- The Garden
- Un amore ritrovato
- Mango
- Ginkgo Tree
- Summer Dance
- I can tell from Paradise
- Lost City
- Aracoara (Sunset)
- The Field

Performers:

String Quartet
Ludwig Marszalek, 1st violin
Laurence Luxen, 2nd violin
Pierre Heneaux, viola
Caroline Stevens, cello
Frank Hendrickx, flute
Andy Dhondt, sax
Stephan Simons, euphonium
Carlo Willems, vibraphone
Marc Meersman and Françoise Vanhecke, vocals
Geert Callaert and Stefan Meylaers, piano