Highlights

Last year, singer Karima El Fillali shone in Yara’s Wedding, the acclaimed musical theatre production by NITE. She’s now here with her long-anticipated solo show, featuring collaborations with fantastic musicians playing both traditional and modern instruments from the East and West. Her captivating vocals are amplified to a new level of spatial immersion thanks to the spectacular, surround-sound speaker system of 4DSOUND.

El Fillali infuses traditional Arabic music with a 21st-century twist. She uses centuries-old poetry by Sufi mystics like Mansur al-Hallaj and Ibn Arabi, about love, light and darkness, joy and sorrow. At the same time, her music is heavily influenced by Western classical music, hip-hop and art-pop.

Mohamedou Ould Slahi
Introducer Mohamedou Ould Slahi is writer in residence at NITE. Originally from Mauritania, Slahi has a strong connection to the spiritual heritage, poetry and cultural background of the Sahara. He was wrongfully imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay for 14 years without trial. His book, Guantánamo Diary, was filmed in 2021 as The Mauritanian.

This is a production of Muziekgebouw Production House in collaboration with 4DSOUND

The Netherlands Radio Choir (Groot Omroepkoor) with British chief conductor Benjamin Goodson makes its debut at the Muziekgebouw with a devout program featuring a cappella choral music by Poulenc, Mendelssohn, and Daniel-Lesur. Accordionist Vincent van Amsterdam is eager to showcase the versatility of his instruments, and Daan Manneke has arranged his adventurous Trois petites symphonies for him. During the magnificent Mass for double choir by the Swiss-Dutch composer Martin, Van Amsterdam performs Manneke's psalm preludes.

With over sixty vocalists, the Netherlands Radio Choir is the only professionally operating choir of this size in the Netherlands. Since its establishment in 1945, the choir has been an integral part of Dutch musical life. It sings the choral parts in the major concert series of the Dutch Public Broadcasting Service (NPO), and its live concerts can be enjoyed almost weekly via the radio. The choir performed numerous premieres by the most important composers of our time, including Boulez, Ligeti and Messiaen. High time, therefore, for a debut in the series Choirs, brought by the number-one Dutch venue for contemporary music. 

In A Thousand Thoughts, the Kronos Quartet embarks on a journey through its legacy of fifty years. Live music and film merge into a multimedia event about what music is, what listening means, and how music can change the way we experience the world. In addition to music by all the great minimalists, the programme features new work, music by non-Western composers and, of course, George Crumb’s Black Angels, the work that prompted the formation of the Kronos Quartet.

David Harrington founded the Kronos Quartet in 1973 in San Francisco during the post-hippie era. The quartet, which has always been different from the norm, did not play Haydn, but did play a surprisingly rough version of Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze, as well as meditative American minimal music. Eschewing abstract modernists, such as Stockhausen and Boulez, they chose the unsettling genius of George Crumb. He set the Vietnam War to music in a cinematic horror fantasy in which Schubert’s Der Tod und das Mädchen is combined with romantic expressive modernism. Documentary filmmaker Sam tells the captivating story of this unique string quartet live on stage.

At The Spot Where I Find Myself gives an intimate glimpse into the world of performer Genevieve Murphy. She plays an indecisive woman who slowly becomes aware of her own body and the space around her. A collection of memories, identities and projections creates a connection with the audience. Especially for the Muziekgebouw, Genevieve adds to her performance an incredible live band made up of renowned musicians Andy Moor, John Dikeman, Laura Polence and Henning Luther. Together they create a unique experience, bringing together spoken word, visual art, rock, free improvisation and electronic music.

Genevieve challenges the audience to explore their own safe spaces, the places where you can express your emotions, find protection and disappear for a while. Uncomfortable, unsettling, introverted, delicate and humorous at the same time. 

Genevieve Murphy: 'As a soloist, I perform the story of my piece. To hold an instrument myself proved disruptive to the intense physical journey I undertake in the work. My music now comes to life with musicians who are very physical performers and have a unique sound. They respond to my voice and character. This feeds my imagination and hopefully that of the audience. It feels great to share the power of live music in a venue like Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ!'

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