With this fourth edition of Minorie we bring something truly special: an instrument you won’t often see at VERA—or on any stage, for that matter. Lukas De Clerck is a Brussels-based composer and musician who has devoted himself to the aulos, an ancient and long-forgotten Greek wind instrument. Sometimes referred to as a “double flute,” the aulos is a double-reed instrument with two pipes: one providing a steady accompaniment while the other carries the melody. It’s played using circular breathing, a technique that allows for an unbroken flow of sound without ever pausing for breath.

Drawing on archaeological finds and depictions from classical antiquity, De Clerck has researched the aulos in depth, reconstructing playing techniques and exploring its possible tonal colors. This exploration eventually led him to invent new, experimental approaches of his own—culminating in the creation of a unique instrument: The Telescopic Aulos of Atlas. Built especially for him, this instrument emphasizes drones, sliding tones (at times strikingly dissonant), and a constant search for new shades of sound.

De Clerck has performed internationally for years at festivals such as Rewire, Sonic Acts, and Meakusma. In 2024, he released the album The Telescopic Aulos of Atlas on Idealogic Organ, the label curated by Stephen O’Malley of SUNN O))).

Quiet, minimal, and deeply personal—Mariska Baars, also known as Soccer Committee, creates music that feels both elusive and intimate. With just voice, guitar, and subtle effects, she conjures a world that is at once familiar and otherworldly. Rooted in the folk tradition yet equally at home in the realm of ambient music, her songs place the voice front and center. The term “ambient,” coined in the 1970s by Brian Eno, describes music meant to “induce calm and a space to think” while being “as easy to ignore as it is interesting.” Soccer Committee’s music embodies that very idea—stimulating emotions and reflections, not in spite of its sparseness, but because of it. Baars knows how to let silence and space speak, suggesting whole landscapes through what’s left unsaid.

Fans of early Low, Grouper, or Annelies Monseré would do well to give Soccer Committee their full attention.