For the fourth chapter of our Musical Road to WOMEX, we meet Yegor Zabelov, the Belarusian accordionist tearing his instrument away from its folk past. In Belarus, the accordion is woven into village dances and national ensembles, but Zabelov has made it his mission to break it open and reimagine it. On stage he turns the instrument into a laboratory, pulling out drones, jagged rhythms, and walls of sound that feel closer to free jazz or electronic noise than to anything recognisably traditional. Sometimes he even sinks his teeth into it, as if dragging the sound by force.

That tension — between the accordion’s folk weight and his experimental drive — is what makes Zabelov unique. Trained at the Belarusian State Academy of Music and first recognised through his duo Gurzuf, he has since composed for theatre and film, built his own trio, and toured across Europe. His work slips between avant-jazz, neoclassical minimalism, ambient soundscapes, and feral noise, drawing comparisons to Colin Stetson or Aphex Twin while always retaining the ghost of the folk voice buried in the instrument.

This October at WOMEX in Tampere, Zabelov brings that uncompromising vision to the stage, showing how an accordion can move from village roots into strange, unpredictable sonic worlds. In this episode, he reflects on his path and curates a playlist that maps the experimental sounds surrounding his music.

Your accordion work is often described as transformative, turning the instrument into something beyond its traditional role. How would you introduce your music to someone hearing it for the first time?

It’s quite a personal thing — very much about me. My music is full of raw emotions and sound textures that draw the audience into their own inner world. In recent years, I’ve been deeply inspired by learning electronic music and sound synthesis. That experience has changed the way I make music with the accordion.

What first drew you to the accordion, and when did you realise it could become more than just a folk or classical instrument in your hands?

It was a family tradition. My grandfather played the accordion, and my father is a professional accordionist — he was also my first teacher. So I was the next in line, and at first I wasn’t really happy about it. It took a while to realise that I truly loved it. When it came to playing, I always felt a bit outside academic and folk music, and at some point I just felt stuck in all that formal academic stuff. In a way it began as a kind of protest, but then I started to trust myself and listen to my own voice.

This year WOMEX moves to Tampere, a city famous for reimagining old factories as cultural spaces. Do you feel a connection between that spirit of transformation and the way you’ve redefined the accordion?

I think it’s a wonderful way to give old factories new life, and I find those industrial spaces, with all their history and textures, really inspiring. In my case, the process of redefining the accordion was very natural and gradual. It came through learning to define and understand myself. It was a long journey of fighting doubts, but also of discovering my own strengths.

At WOMEX you’ll stand alongside artists from all over the world. In that global conversation, what do you feel your music adds, and what do you hope audiences carry with them after hearing you?

It’s such a pleasure to be part of an event like this. Sharing cultural diversity and showing respect for it is something we can all contribute to. As for my performance, I hope it will be an immersive and therapeutic experience for all of us — almost like a collective meditation, where each person can connect with themselves in their own way.

Tampere is known for its close-knit audiences and intimate venues, places where listeners pay close attention and the atmosphere can feel almost communal. Since your performances are often described as ritual-like experiences, how do you imagine that environment shaping the ceremony of your music, and what kind of connection with listeners do you hope to create there?

Yes, I can imagine that. I’ve performed in Finland before, so I have some experience with Finnish audiences. The type of venue and the audience always has a big impact on my performances. Personally, I love having the audience close, so we can really feel each other and create a strong, deep connection. But we’ll see — I plan to just go with the flow and respond to the situation.

Tampere’s landscape of lakes and forests has a strong natural presence. Do you find that environments like this affect your state of mind before performing, and does nature play a role in your music?

I always try to immerse myself in the places where I perform. I grew up in a small village surrounded by fields, little lakes, and groves. Places like that recharge me. My music isn’t directly illustrative of nature, but I feel it carries a deep, unconscious connection to my roots — and those roots are closely tied to nature.

Music often carries the weight of the world around it, shaped both by personal realities and by wider global challenges such as war, displacement, or climate. As you prepare for WOMEX in Tampere, is there a particular issue — local or global — that feels especially tied to your music and the way you perform it today?

I’m originally from Belarus — a country where over a thousand people are imprisoned for their stance, and thousands more have been forced to leave their homeland. I don’t try to deliver a specific message through my music, but of course all of this influences it. As a musician, I see it as part of my mission to share with people what is happening in my home country.

Looking beyond WOMEX, what new directions or projects are you planning? Are there particular collaborations or recordings you’re excited to develop?

I’m looking forward to meeting some great artists at WOMEX. Who knows, maybe it will inspire ideas for future collaborations. As for my solo project, after WOMEX I will continue working on my second solo album, which will include the music I’ll be performing at the festival.

If you could send a personal invitation to the audiences in Tampere, how would you invite them to step into the ritual of your music?

I hope the performance becomes a shared journey, almost like a meditation, where everyone can connect with their own inner voice. So let’s meet and let it flow. I’m looking forward to seeing you in Tampere!

On 23 October, 22:30 – 23:15, Yegor Zabelov transforms the Theatre Stage at Tampere Hall
into an immersive, ritual-like meditation at WOMEX.

PLAYLIST: YEGOR ZABELOV X RHYTHM PASSPORT

You can find all the previous episodes of Musical Road to Womex HERE

Photo ©: Sasa Krajnc