Beethoven and Franck performed by Jackie Xiao and Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, paired movement by movement with chocolates by Benoît Nihant
This evening pairs two pillars of the violin–piano repertoire with a structured tasting experience. Violinist Jackie Xiao and pianist Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden perform Beethoven’s Sonata No. 5 “Spring” and César Franck’s Sonata in A major, works that unfold across eight contrasting movements.
For each movement, guests will receive a chocolate selected in dialogue with the music. In partnership with Benoît Nihant, eight chocolates from his collection were carefully chosen after attentive listening. His bean-to-bar practice emphasises single-origin cacao and a precise, terroir-informed approach to chocolate. Each responds to a specific musical character — effervescence, intimacy, wit, tension, reverie, release.
The tasting follows the architecture of the concert itself. Bright, fresh flavours accompany Beethoven’s opening Allegro; darker, denser notes appear as the music deepens; lighter textures return as themes resolve. The chocolates are companions, offered at the pace of the performance, one per movement.
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A highly sought-after musician specialising in chamber music, Australian-Chinese violinist Jackie Xiao has been a core member of the Salzburg Chamber Soloists since 2008 and has worked intensively with the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein from 2010 to 2017 as soloist, concertmaster, and principal second violin/viola. She is also regularly invited to perform with various orchestras (East-West Chamber Orchestra, OPRL, Brussels Philharmonic, etc.), ensembles at festivals (Bashmet Festival, Paléo Festival, Crans-Montana Classics, etc.), and has performed in over 50 countries worldwide in renowned halls such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Cadogan Hall and Royal Albert Hall London, Musikverein and Konzerthaus Vienna, and Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, etc. In 2017, she obtained an Executive MBA from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management and completed two further certifications from the London School of Economics in 2024. She served as Director of Operations for both the César Franck International Piano Competition and the International Music Festival Paris until 2022. Currently, she works as finance manager at Harwood Levitt Consulting, a boutique public affairs consultancy based in Brussels, and is pursuing a Master’s in Football Business at the Cruyff Institute in partnership with FC Barcelona while continuing freelance performance engagements. Jackie performs on a 1717 Carlo Giuseppe Testore violin with a bow made by the renowned Belgian bow-maker Edwin Clement.
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Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden is one of Belgium’s most distinguished pianists, with a career spanning more than five decades as a soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. Born in Brussels in 1947, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Brussels at the age of twelve, studying with Eduardo Del Pueyo. At sixteen, he became one of the youngest laureates in the history of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, a moment that marked the beginning of an international career.
He has performed with major orchestras across Europe and beyond and has collaborated in chamber music with leading soloists and ensembles, including Augustin Dumay, José Van Dam and the Quatuor Ysaÿe. His repertoire ranges from the Classical canon to twentieth-century works, approached with a characteristic clarity, balance and structural intelligence.
Alongside his performance career, Vanden Eynden has played a central role in musical transmission. He is an honorary professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, a Master in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, and artistic director of the Eduardo Del Pueyo Centre. He is also a regular jury member at international competitions, continuing a lifelong engagement with musical excellence and education.
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Founded by Benoît and Anne Nihant, the house of Benoît Nihant is built on a shared conviction: that chocolate deserves the same seriousness of craft as wine or gastronomy. Trained as an engineer, Benoît Nihant oversees production, sourcing and transformation, working directly from cocoa bean to finished chocolate, with a rigorous attention to origin, process and balance. Anne Masset leads creation, collections and design, shaping the recipes and identities of the chocolates with a precise, restrained sensibility.
Together, they have developed a bean-to-bar practice grounded in long-term relationships with cocoa growers, single-origin cacao and a deliberate refusal of excess. Their chocolates privilege clarity over sweetness, structure over effect. Produced in their atelier in Awans, the house has grown carefully, remaining independent, with boutiques in Belgium and a presence in Japan.
For this evening, chocolates from their existing collection were selected in close dialogue with the music, allowing flavour, texture and timing to accompany each movement without ever overtaking it.
