Breaking through geographical and creative boundaries, three young Warrior musicians headed to Belgium on 21st March for the third annual instalment of BXL x LDN Interplay.

The Tomorrow’s Warriors collaboration with Brosella Festival in Brussels brings together three young musicians from London and teams them up with three musicians from Belgium, to create new music and gain valuable experience playing on international stages in front of new audiences.

The 2026 cohort of musicians featured, from London, saxophonists Lauren Breen and Donovan Haffner, alongside  Christ-Stéphane Boizi on trombone. Joining the Warrior emerging artists from Belgium were pianist Lorenzo Ola Kobina, Alice Sinephro on bass, and drummer Simon de Rover.

A close-up of musicians playing saxophones and a trombone in a rehearsal space, with a focus on their expressions and instruments.
A group of musicians rehearsing in a studio, featuring a drummer, bassist, and players on various instruments gathered around music sheets.

Under the guidance of artistic mentors, the cohort came together for a 3-day workshop to develop a series of new jazz compositions before performing their first concerts of this year’s programme at the Brosella Spring Festival and Muziekcentrum De Bijloke, Ghent.

As the newly formed sextet worked on their new compositions and discovered new collaborative approaches across their different styles of playing they were mentored by Mercury Prize-nominated and Ivors Academy Award-winning (2018) Berlin/London-based composer, arranger, alto saxophonist, and Tomorrow’s Warriors alumna Cassie Kinoshi.

Working alongside Cassie as fellow project mentor was Tunisian-born jazz pianist and composer Wajdi Riahi, bringing a host of musical references from his North African heritage through to contemporary jazz. 

A musician playing a bass guitar on stage, surrounded by plants, with a band performing in the background.
A jazz band performing on stage with three musicians playing brass instruments, surrounded by green ambient lighting and plants.
Three musicians perform on stage, playing saxophones and a trombone, with a visually engaging backdrop and musical scores on stands.
A diverse group of eight individuals seated on a stage in front of musical instruments, with plants in the background.

As they worked together through the week, all the Warriors musicians noticed the difference in how they approach jazz composition compared to their European counterparts. Whilst this difference was very apparent at the beginning of the project, it seems that resolving to blend the two approaches became the creative ‘glue’ as they worked together more closely. Chris-Stéphane Boizi explains:

“I really enjoyed how open the approach to composition was. At first it was quite interesting, because at Tomorrow’s Warriors – and generally in the UK – we often play within similar structures: head in, solos, head out. With this project, and perhaps more commonly in Europe, those structures can be played with and completely re‑imagined, which I’d never really thought about before.

I came into the project feeling very open about my own compositions – how they could sound, feel, and be structured – and it worked incredibly well. I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The experience has given me new ideas about how I approach writing, even if those ideas might come across differently when performed in London. It’s something I really connected with and grew into by the end.”

The project continues through spring and summer 2026, with further performances including:

25th April Bricklane Jazz Fest, London

24th May Jazz Middelheim, Antwerp 

05th July Brosella Festival, Brussels

21st Aug Vortex, London

22nd Aug We Out Here Festival, Dorset

Photo credits Patricia Pascal and ShamrockRaver

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