Personal stories are given a new musical life in ‘What I Really Want To Say’.

What do you still want to say when words are no longer enough?

For What I Really Want To Say, a collaboration between New European Ensemble and Wonderfeel, we invited people to share a personal story with us. A memory, an experience, a thought, or a feeling that holds special meaning. The response was heartwarming. We received stories that moved, surprised, and inspired us—stories about love, loss, hope, gratitude, and the unexpected turns that shape a human life.

From all submissions, four stories have been selected. Four composers will transform these personal narratives into new musical works, which will be performed by New European Ensemble at Wonderfeel.

Philip Smet × Jasper de Bock

Odette Reydon × Hesce Mourits

I Don’t Know

Sometimes the most honest answer is: I don’t know.

In her submission, Odette Reydon writes about grief and the question she was repeatedly asked: How are you doing? A question that does not always have an answer. She describes how she found peace in not having to know and refers to the Malaysian expression jam karet — time is rubber.

A story about patience, stillness, and allowing space for everything that has not yet found words.

Composer Hesce Mourits translates this idea into a musical landscape in which time seems to stretch and expand. Inspired by Odette’s words, the work explores the tension between timelessness and those moments when loss unexpectedly returns.

A composition about memory, longing, and the space needed to grieve.

Karin Zeekaf × Alice Hoi-Ching Yeung

On the night of Good Friday in 2022, Karin’s husband suffered a cardiac arrest at home. Together with her daughter, she performed CPR until the emergency services arrived.

What followed was an intense period suspended between hope and uncertainty, ultimately leading to a second chance at life.

Her submission is a heartfelt tribute to the paramedics, police officers, firefighters, and other emergency workers who stand ready every day for people in their most vulnerable moments.

Through her story, Karin not only expresses her gratitude, but also honours those who often work under immense pressure and are invaluable to our society.

Composer Alice Hoi-Ching Yeung draws inspiration from this story of resilience, humanity, and hope.

Nicolette Roelofs × Elizabete Beķe Rudzinska

In(ter)ventions

Some encounters change the course of a life.

When Nicolette Roelofs began her pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 2005, she could never have imagined that she would meet Philippe along the way. What started as a chance encounter grew into a love that has endured for more than twenty years.

A story that shows how unexpected events can redirect an entire life.

This idea became the starting point for In(ter)ventions by composer Elizabete Beķe Rudzinska. The work consists of seven musical “inventions”, in which different musical layers coexist and influence one another.

The composition explores the fragile relationship between what we expect and what unexpectedly comes our way—and how those unforeseen moments can change a journey forever.

From Story to Sound

Jasper de Bock, Hesce Mourits, Alice Hoi-Ching Yeung and Elizabete Beķe Rudzinska have created moving compositions inspired by four very different personal stories. Together, these new works invite us to reflect on what connects us as human beings.

Because sometimes the essence of a story lies not in what is said, but in what is felt.

On Sunday 5 July, New European Ensemble will bring these four new works to life for the very first time at Wonderfeel. A special encounter between personal stories, composers, performers and audience and a reminder of the power of music to listen to what we truly want to say.