Agenda

How do you see the world without looking?
How does silence sound when it begins to speak?

In this new programme from the Mavericks series, the New European Ensemble brings together three remarkable voices — each exploring perception, imagination, and inner freedom in their own way.

Kurdish-Dutch composer Hawar Tawfiq has written a new work about blindness — not as a limitation, but as an invitation to listen more deeply. His music moves between sound and silence, between what is heard and what can only be sensed.

Clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh, the featured artist in this programme, is a boundary-defying musical personality. Known for his collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble and orchestras around the world, he merges improvisation and composition into an intense, deeply personal musical language — virtuosic yet heartfelt, always driven by communication and human expression.

The poetry collections curated by Ahmed Aboutaleb form the reflective counterpart of the evening. In his own poems and translations, he explores themes of identity, responsibility, and human dignity. His language is clear and direct, yet layered and contemplative. In this context, his poetry invites new ways of seeing and understanding — precisely what Seeing Without Seeing is about.

Mavericks is the New European Ensemble’s platform for visionary voices that question conventions and place the act of listening at the centre. Seeing Without Seeing invites the audience to hear differently, to feel differently — beyond borders, beyond sight, in the space where imagination begins.

Remember Tom and Jerry and Lucky Luke, with their wild antics and explosive adventures full of dynamite and gunpowder? They are the inspiration behind the powerful pieces you’ll hear and see from the New European Ensemble this evening. This Hague-based ensemble, made up of leading musicians from across Europe, transports you back to those magical childhood moments with Dynamite Barrel.

They bring this to life through works by composers who blend film and music, including Tjøgersen, Cendo, Black, Bailie, and the young Francis Battah from Québec. These pieces evoke personal memories of childhood wonder that can easily get lost in the rush of everyday life but are oh-so inspiring. Get ready to be blown away!

A contemporary requiem full of emotion and mystery

The requiem originated in the church as a sung mass for the dead. Over time, it evolved into a music genre in its own right. Each year, the November Music Festival in Den Bosch invites a contemporary composer to write a new work inspired by this musical tradition: the Bosch Requiem. To mark the tenth anniversary of the Opera Forward Festival (OFF), the two festivals have joined forces to commission Meriç Artaç. The work will have its world premiere in concert form—without elaborate sets, costumes or staging—at November Music, before being presented as a music theatre production at OFF.

Poetic and multi-layered

Meriç Artaç has a deep passion for multidisciplinary work and has composed several operas and music theatre pieces, including Madam Koo and The Arrival of Mr. Z.  For Requiem for Mariza, she set to music a libretto by Dutch writer Sarah Sluimer, who is known for her sharp wit and her ability to intertwine the personal and the political in richly imaginative texts. The stage direction is by Silvia Costa, who has rapidly built an impressive career in the international opera world. Her ability to create poetic and multi-layered productions has made her a highly sought-after director. The New European Ensemble is conducted by Sora Elisabeth Lee, who is on the brink of an international breakthrough as a conductor and is making her debut at Dutch National Opera with Requiem for Mariza.

Meer informatie volgt later.

Composer Bryan Seegers has written a powerful new work that makes the sensory richness and complexity of life within the autism spectrum audible. His music intertwines sound, voice, and text into a multicolored auditory landscape where vulnerability and strength go hand in hand. The spoken fragments are based on conversations with neurodiverse Dutch individuals and, together with the music, form a layered reflection on perception, communication, and identity.

The evening is presented and introduced by Mike Boddé in Enschede and The Hague. Jesse van Meer will present and introduce the evening in Tilburg.

In Spectrum, neurodiversity is not seen as a diagnosis, but as a source of creativity — a different way of experiencing, understanding, and sharing the world.