Peter Sheppard Skærved enjoying the acoustic in the Bruegel Room at The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium, Brussels

Nigel is to compose a cycle of solo violin and solo viola miniatures inspired by paintings by the Northern Renaissance artists Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger. This commission is part of a partnership between Nigel, Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin) and The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium. The partnership will also be built around historic instruments dating back to the period of the Bruegel family. More information about this partnership and collaboration will follow soon!

Nigel’s composition `BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH will consist of 11 short works, each inspired by a painting in the Brueghel room of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium in Brussels.

In addition to the violin miniatures, Nigel is working on a large-scale symphony entitled `BRUEG[H]EL’ for Piccolo/Flute and Symphony Orchestra.  The paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger also inspire this work. `BRUEG[H]EL’ will be recorded for the Naxos label in the summer of 2026 under the baton of Neil Thomson and Jennifer M. Gunn (Piccolo/Flute). More information on this project will follow soon.