About us

Chimaera is a space where artistic minds from diverse backgrounds, generations and disciplines can converge and collaborate.

'Together, we can create something greater than the sum of our parts'

Chimaera is not a traditional ensemble, but a space where young creators and experienced artists meet, inspire one another, and create and perform together.

The collective works post-genre: from original compositions to contemporary classical repertoire, dance, performance, text and technology — all flowing together into hybrid, scoreless works that resist being confined to a single discipline or form.

At the core of Chimaera’s practice is performance as an organism, in which humans, (natural) environments and technology are in constant interaction. By bringing nature into urban contexts, the collective explores the tension between the artificial and the organic, between city and landscape, between the human and more-than-human world. Living organisms are not treated as scenery, but as equal partners in the artistic process.

Chimaera’s projects are intergenerational, research-driven and socially engaged. Starting from musicological or sociological fieldwork, they address themes such as identity, street culture, memory, public space, technological change and ecology. The collective aims to be both stage and laboratory: a space where ideas can develop, where failure is part of the process, and where art grows out of dialogue between disciplines, as well as between art and society.

We invite you to join us on this remarkable journey. Together, let’s turn visions into reality, ideas into movements – and dream

meet our founders

Fedra Coppens

(pictured left) earned her Master’s with distinction from the Royal Conservatory Brussels. She completed further specialization in chamber music. As a qualified Suzuki teacher, Fedra co-founded the violin school “Villa Viola“. She leads music camps and workshops internationally and has guided her students to global studies and competition wins. An active violinist, she plays with various orchestras and ensembles, and has a passion for chamber music, performing with the Goeyvaerts String Trio, pianist Peter Verelst, and the Clara Schumann Piano Trio with cellist Jan Sciffer. In 2023, she earned a Bachelor’s in Musicology from KU Leuven, and has transferred this knowledge into composing hybrid, electronic-based music in recent years. 

Silke Hamers

(pictured middle) is a 21-year-old interdisciplinary performing artist and creator, based partly in Brussels and Rotterdam. After graduating at P.A.R.T.S. GEN XIV (Performing Arts Research Training Studios) in Brussels, she has been merging the use of voice, body and different instruments in her own hybrid performances. Raised in a musical household, she has been a passionate singer-songwriter and composer since a young age, publishing her own alternative soul styled music, and recently released her EP ‘Sexy Tragedy’ with Gust Decoster. She has been actively performing her music, accompanied by her band ‘The Red Mullets’; Esther Coorevits, Emile de Schepper and Lucas Messler, and choreographies around Belgium for the past year, open to collaborate and connect with vibrant interdisciplinary artists.

Lotte De Munck 

(pictured right), is a young violinist and musicologist, having recently completed her master’s degree with great distinction at the Antwerp Royal Conservatory, after completing her bachelor’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. She also holds a master’s degree in musicology from KU Leuven. Lotte performs with various ensembles and orchestras, including Youth Orchestra Flanders, the Mahler Student Festival Orchestra, and the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands. Her musical interests span from chamber music to more contemporary and cross-genre projects, where she enjoys collaboration and artistic exploration. Besides performing, Lotte works as a freelance music editor for institutions including DE SINGEL, and has experience in arts communication and outreach.

meet our team

Arto van Roey – guitarist, improviser, composer, performer in Street Chronicles and one of the composers for the upcoming creation of Chimaera in 2026. (BE)

Esther Coorevits – viola player, composer, bassist, musicologist, performer in Street Chronicles and upcoming production in 2026. (BE)

Robbe Broeckx – drummer, improviser, performer in Street Chronicles. (BE)

Ceres Lauwers – cellist, finishing her studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, performer in Street Chronicles and upcoming production in 2026.  (BE)

Irene Rojo – Catalan Brussels-based dancer and Gyrotonic trainer, recently graduated from P.A.R.T.S., currently working as a freelancer, collaborating with Roser López Espinosa, a.o. She is one of the dancers in Street Chronicles. (CA)

Patric da Cunha – Brazilian, Brussels-based dancer & creator, recent graduate from P.A.R.T.S., currently working as a freelance artist, currently part of Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe’s new creation. They are one of the dancers in ‘Street Chronicles’ (BR)

Lisa Goldberg – bassoonist, multimedia visual artist. She created the art film for Chimaera’s first production: Street Chronicles on ZVA. (AU)

Kima Kalinin – Antwerp-based stylist for Street Chronicles 

Melissa Van Havere – A multidisciplinary artist who advocates for animal rights and seeks to recognize animals as intelligent beings with emotions, just like us. She expresses this through a playful, colorful, and seemingly naïve artistic language. She is creating the installation for Chimaera’s performance on Air Festival at Merksemdok 2025. (BE)

Lisha Chen – dancer

meet our board

Tom Pauwels

Christine De Smedt

Tom Van Bogaert

Contact

Please feel free to contact us by phone or by email. We can also be found on a number of social media platforms

  • phone: +32 497 460 737
  • email: info@chimaera.be