DAS HAUS presents Kunal Lahiry and YAV ‘Journey to Softness’

To begin 2026, we’re gathering the DAS HAUS crowd for the world premiere of Journey to Softness, a quiet revolution of music and movement. We come together to resist the grind, the noise, the pressure and choose something looser, more alive, and unapologetically honest. A breath, a reckoning and a new beginning.

Journey to Softness traces a musical arc from tension to release, from the staircase we’re trained to climb in today’s society to the freedom we rarely allow ourselves. Pianist and musical queer voice Kunal Lahiri bends the classical canon until it breathes differently: Ligeti crashing into Beethoven, Ravel drifting into Radiohead, sound folding into protest, and softness revealing itself as a form of power. Congolese-rooted performance artist YAV joins him onstage, carving movement through the score with ritual, club energy, and raw intimacy; a physical counterpulse that deepens the night’s emotional terrain.For anyone who’s ever felt the weight of expectation … and wondered what it might mean to unlearn it. This is classical music stretched, queered and cracked open.

Indian-American and Berlin-based, Kunal Lahiri moves through the classical world with a mix of integrity and sensual curiosity that turns every program into a statement. A former BBC New Generation Artist, he has performed everywhere from Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein and the Elbphilharmonie to spaces in the queer underground, blending avant-garde imagination with emotional precision. His concerts are immersive encounters where identity, protest, and intimacy meet head-on; making Journey to Softness both a personal story and a musical uprising.

Brussels-based artist YAV works across contemporary dance, music, and fashion, with appearances in films, global campaigns, and international performance festivals. His movement language blends the ritualistic with the sensual, adding a visceral physicality that turns sound into something almost touchable. In this premiere, he becomes the human mirror inside the music — vulnerable, electric, and unafraid.

Start the year with us. Let go of the climb, the noise, the shoulds. Come soften with us.This is your invitation to begin again — with music that opens new doors.

Schedule:

19:30 doors, drinks & food

20:30 start concert

21:45 end concert & drinks

Food:

Drinks are provided before and after the concert and some yummy vegetarian/vegan food will be available from 19:30-20:15. Reserve your meal while booking tickets and pay just €16 on the spot.

Tickets:

DAS HAUS wants to be a place where culture is accessible and affordable to all. It is up to you to determine if the fair price suits your current financial situation or if you prefer to adjust it.Are you able to pay a little more for the ticket? You allow others to pay a little less.

Thank you for contributing to access to culture for all!

Location and route:

The concert takes place at Palazzo, Théodore Verhaegenstraat 190, 1060 Sint-Gillis (Brussels). Paid street parking is available in the surrounding streets. We recommended taking public transport, as the venue is very accessible. The nearest tram stop is Koningslaan (Avenue du Roi), which accommodates tram lines 81 and 97 and bus 48. Bus lines 49 and 50 stop close to the venue as well, at bus stop Zweden (Suède) or Drukkerij (Imprimerie). This bus stops also accommodate tram line 82. If you come from outside of Brussels, you can get off the intercity train at Brussels-Midi (Brussels-South) train station. Palazzo is an eight minute walk from there.