Rotas Room //002 - SoundHouse Den Haag | 09.10.26 | 20:00h
Rotas Room //002
SoundHouse Den Haag | 09.10.26 | 20:00h
Next edition is coming up! - More info here.
Carla Genchi
Viktoria Arvayova & Nefeli Sani
kilovatio - Joan Mena & Katarina Kadijević
Doors: 19:30h
Tickets: Normal 14€ | Student 7€
Breath is never entirely yours. You don't choose to take it, only how.
Tonight follows that question through three acts: a voice pushed until it breaks free of its own control, a breath exchanged at the edge where one body ends and another begins, a breath shared until it no longer belongs to anyone at all. Struggle, exchange, dissolution where the room completes the cycle, then hands it back for the next rotation.
Inspired by my active research in vocal and performance practices, I took the opportunity to create an event that could host artists working with active air and characters. Rotation of the breath, rotation of the room, creating a space that returns to itself, again and again, each time carrying someone new through.
This is not a fixed program but a recurring gesture. Artists come to work with voice, with breath, with the body as it moves through performance, narrative, and research. Some return; the room is built for that kind of continuity. Each edition is its own act, but the structure underneath doesn't change: a cycle completing itself and handing the next one forward. I wanted a room that holds what happens in it, and lets that be enough.
HERA @ Lutherse Kerk, Groningen - 03. 10 / 20:00h
HERA by Kika Sprangers
Lutherse Kerk, Groningen - 03.10. 2026 / @ 20:00h
Tickets
More details and dates: https://kikasprangers.nl/project/hera/
For a second time, I have the pleasure of singing together with Kika Sprangers - her original compositions and arrangements. I will be harmonising with the amazing Anna Serierse, Nina Rompa, Carolina Gemmell, Marta Arpini, Sanem Kalfa, Marit van der Lei, Fenne Scholte, and Līva Dumpe.
HERA @ Theaterkerk Hemels, Twisk - 02.10 / 20:00
HERA by Kika Sprangers
Theaterkerk Hemels, Twisk - 02.10.2026 / 20:00h
Tickets
More details and dates: https://kikasprangers.nl/project/hera/
For a second time, I have the pleasure of singing together with Kika Sprangers - her original compositions and arrangements. I will be harmonising with the amazing Anna Serierse, Nina Rompa, Carolina Gemmell, Marta Arpini, Sanem Kalfa, Marit van der Lei, Fenne Scholte, and Līva Dumpe.
HERA @ De Woudkapel, Bilthoven - 01.10 / 20:00h
HERA by Kika Sprangers
01.10
De Woudkapel, Bilthoven - 01.10.2026 / 20:00h
Tickets
More details and dates: https://kikasprangers.nl/project/hera/
For a second time, I have the pleasure of singing together with Kika Sprangers - her original compositions and arrangements. I will be harmonising with the amazing Anna Serierse, Nina Rompa, Carolina Gemmell, Marta Arpini, Sanem Kalfa, Marit van der Lei, Fenne Scholte, and Līva Dumpe.
“What you see is what you get: choir and saxophone. Together with nine female voices, Kika returns to the core of her music – colorful melancholy that enriches, stills, and moves. In the church’s unique acoustics, the lyrical saxophone and distinctive women’s voices merge into one. Acoustic, with nothing but sound, audience, and space.
Sprangers has worked with vocals in many of her diverse projects. She has composed on commission for North Sea Jazz Festival and TivoliVredenburg, writing for the Dutch Chamber Choir and the National Youth Women’s Choir. In her own Large Ensemble, four singers take on the role of a string section.
For HERA, Kika writes new music that weaves together vocals and saxophone, while also highlighting each individual voice. The ensemble’s strong musical personalities reveal the beauty of being different. The group thrives on its vibrant diversity – ten unique musical identities forming a richly layered, harmonious whole. A surprising experience that lingers, leaving you with a softened yet high-spirited feeling.”
HERA @ Kunstkerk Dordrecht - 26.09 / 20:00h
HERA by Kika Sprangers
Kunstkerk Dordrecht - 25.09 / 20:00h
Tickets
More details and dates: https://kikasprangers.nl/project/hera/
For a second time, I have the pleasure of singing together with Kika Sprangers - her original compositions and arrangements. I will be harmonising with the amazing Anna Serierse, Nina Rompa, Carolina Gemmell, Marta Arpini, Sanem Kalfa, Marit van der Lei, Fenne Scholte, and Līva Dumpe.
“What you see is what you get: choir and saxophone. Together with nine female voices, Kika returns to the core of her music – colorful melancholy that enriches, stills, and moves. In the church’s unique acoustics, the lyrical saxophone and distinctive women’s voices merge into one. Acoustic, with nothing but sound, audience, and space.
Sprangers has worked with vocals in many of her diverse projects. She has composed on commission for North Sea Jazz Festival and TivoliVredenburg, writing for the Dutch Chamber Choir and the National Youth Women’s Choir. In her own Large Ensemble, four singers take on the role of a string section.
For HERA, Kika writes new music that weaves together vocals and saxophone, while also highlighting each individual voice. The ensemble’s strong musical personalities reveal the beauty of being different. The group thrives on its vibrant diversity – ten unique musical identities forming a richly layered, harmonious whole. A surprising experience that lingers, leaving you with a softened yet high-spirited feeling.”
HERA @ De Oude Mattheus, Eiebergen - 11.09 / 20:00h
HERA by Kika Sprangers
De Oude Mattheus, Eibergen - 11.09 / 20h
More details and dates: https://kikasprangers.nl/project/hera/
For a second time, I have the pleasure of singing together with Kika Sprangers - her original compositions and arrangements. I will be harmonising with the amazing Anna Serierse, Nina Rompa, Carolina Gemmell, Marta Arpini, Sanem Kalfa, Marit van der Lei, Fenne Scholte, and Līva Dumpe.
“What you see is what you get: choir and saxophone. Together with nine female voices, Kika returns to the core of her music – colorful melancholy that enriches, stills, and moves. In the church’s unique acoustics, the lyrical saxophone and distinctive women’s voices merge into one. Acoustic, with nothing but sound, audience, and space.
Sprangers has worked with vocals in many of her diverse projects. She has composed on commission for North Sea Jazz Festival and TivoliVredenburg, writing for the Dutch Chamber Choir and the National Youth Women’s Choir. In her own Large Ensemble, four singers take on the role of a string section.
For HERA, Kika writes new music that weaves together vocals and saxophone, while also highlighting each individual voice. The ensemble’s strong musical personalities reveal the beauty of being different. The group thrives on its vibrant diversity – ten unique musical identities forming a richly layered, harmonious whole. A surprising experience that lingers, leaving you with a softened yet high-spirited feeling.”
HERA @ Rumpts Kerkje, 05.09 / 20h
HERA by Kika Sprangers
Second Show at Rumpts Kerkje, Rumpt
05.09.2026 / 20:00h
More details and dates: https://kikasprangers.nl/project/hera/
For a second time, I have the pleasure of singing together with Kika Sprangers - her original compositions and arrangements. I will be harmonising with the amazing Anna Serierse, Nina Rompa, Carolina Gemmell, Marta Arpini, Sanem Kalfa, Marit van der Lei, Fenne Scholte, and Līva Dumpe.
“What you see is what you get: choir and saxophone. Together with nine female voices, Kika returns to the core of her music – colorful melancholy that enriches, stills, and moves. In the church’s unique acoustics, the lyrical saxophone and distinctive women’s voices merge into one. Acoustic, with nothing but sound, audience, and space.
Sprangers has worked with vocals in many of her diverse projects. She has composed on commission for North Sea Jazz Festival and TivoliVredenburg, writing for the Dutch Chamber Choir and the National Youth Women’s Choir. In her own Large Ensemble, four singers take on the role of a string section.
For HERA, Kika writes new music that weaves together vocals and saxophone, while also highlighting each individual voice. The ensemble’s strong musical personalities reveal the beauty of being different. The group thrives on its vibrant diversity – ten unique musical identities forming a richly layered, harmonious whole. A surprising experience that lingers, leaving you with a softened yet high-spirited feeling.”
HERA @ Dominicuskerk in Amsterdam - 04.09 / 20h
HERA by Kika Sprangers
For a second time, I have the pleasure of singing together with Kika Sprangers - her original compositions and arrangements. I will be harmonising with the amazing Anna Serierse, Nina Rompa, Carolina Gemmell, Marta Arpini, Sanem Kalfa, Marit van der Lei, Fenne Scholte, and Līva Dumpe.
The premiere is at Dominicuskerk in Amsterdam - 04.09.2026
More details and dates: https://kikasprangers.nl/project/hera/
“What you see is what you get: choir and saxophone. Together with nine female voices, Kika returns to the core of her music – colorful melancholy that enriches, stills, and moves. In the church’s unique acoustics, the lyrical saxophone and distinctive women’s voices merge into one. Acoustic, with nothing but sound, audience, and space.
Sprangers has worked with vocals in many of her diverse projects. She has composed on commission for North Sea Jazz Festival and TivoliVredenburg, writing for the Dutch Chamber Choir and the National Youth Women’s Choir. In her own Large Ensemble, four singers take on the role of a string section.
For HERA, Kika writes new music that weaves together vocals and saxophone, while also highlighting each individual voice. The ensemble’s strong musical personalities reveal the beauty of being different. The group thrives on its vibrant diversity – ten unique musical identities forming a richly layered, harmonious whole. A surprising experience that lingers, leaving you with a softened yet high-spirited feeling.”
Nine Elephants - Sofia, 15.07 | 17-20h CET
Extremely proud to present our project with Isul Kim called "The Cart of Commons” at the third edition of Nine Elephants - a festival for art in the urban environment in Sofia, Bulgaria. The festival will spill around the city's various locations between 9th and 19th of July and will host some great artistic interdisciplinary projects and initiatives.
Full program and info here —> https://devetslona.art/
The Cart of Commons
When?
15 July 2026, 5:00-8:00 PM
Where? Krasno Selo Market, Sofia, Bulgaria
The Cart of Commons is an urban intervention project using a merchant cart as a mobile performance installation to explore non-monetary trade within the Krasno Selo Market. Through interviews and field research, the project maps the informal communication, care and exchange that exist between the people, and often beneath the structures of monetary trade. The cart will serve as a platform for collecting and sharing verbal testimonies, object exchange and soundscapes of the marketplace. Embeded within the cart, a live radio transmission will be a connective element to all the shops and stands around, activating the neighbourhood as a living receiver. It aims to activate the neighborhood as a living, receptive space. The cart itself is constructed by the artist Kiril Karudov, whose craft gives physical form to the project’s conceptual heart.
The radio program will be broadcast on Radio “Kyufte” https://qft.fm/
Gratitude to Viktoria Draganova and the team of Nine Elephants for the invitation!
With the financial support of the National Culture Fund and Sofia Municipality – Summer Programme.
With the financial support of Culture Moves Europe and the European Union.
This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
A Case for Libretto
The time has come for another A CASE FOR LIBRETTO on Radio Worm.
Last episode for the season 25/26! Excited to be reunited in the studio together with Isul and some misterious guests. Tune in between 17-18h CET at https://radio.worm.org/
Or listen later on https://www.mixcloud.com/radiowormrotterdam/
Rotas Room //1 - Event Series,
Rotas Room // 001 - june 9th, 19:30h
De Constant Rebecqueplein 20b, The Hague
entrance 10€ / 5€ students
Proud to present my first event series in The Hague. As part of the SoundHouse community, I use the opportunity to gather people together in a space named Rotas Room.
The cosy SoundHouse environment allows for rotation of where and how a performance/discussion takes place. The way our breath works, and our voice is reverberating from the walls.
The space will turn each edition into an invitation for artists and musicians to inhabit it differently, with the room as an instrument and the voice at its centre. The series moves between the meditative and the experimental, from stillness to active performance and participation. It is open to those who know these matters well and to those arriving for the first time.
In each edition, the room will be rearranged, moving between performance and discussion space. As a beginning, the series turns around the voice as a shared point of departure: not a genre, but a place to begin.
In the first edition, I bring together Sirens for Silence together with my own project called yourvoicesIhear - we are musicians arriving from different places, gathering in the same room.
Sirense for Silence is a collective formed by Madhav Agarwal, Tamara Kazziha, and Felician Erlenburg. With Madhav and Tamara currently based in India, the three are gathering together in Europe to create meditative experiences for listeners in an improvised setting using introspective sound and movement.
On Air On Site -Radio premier on May 23, 11:30 CET
For the third edition of On Air On Site - an online and live radio festival based in The Hague, I am again thrilled to present a fixed media piece.
“The Chuhal (Otus scops)” is airing on May 23rd 11:30h CEST / 12:30H Eastern European
My piece will be surrounded by music from fantastic artists and musicians. You can find the full program here: https://onaironsite.com/programme-2026 <3
A personal recommendation is my dear friend Renán Zelada Cisneros. Their piece “Please Tell Me Youre Ok” is airing on May 24th 06:30 CEST
SOFIA-FORMS - 16/05 @ Atelieto, Sofia
“A single-day hangout, workshop and jam session where multidisciplinary artists gather to showcase their art, workflows and share knowledge.”
For detailed program check - https://www.instagram.com/sofia.forms/
During the day the program full of talks and workshops will happen in Resonator - maps.app.goo.gl/QGJkZJTK4HVRqx4e7
The evening program where you can hear yourvoicesIhear among other great sound performances will be at Altelieto - https://maps.app.goo.gl/t6wJVk8GWabN2gSv5
WORM Rotterdam - 25 Hour Radio Relay, 25/01 @ 9am
The 25 Hour Radio Relay 2026 @ Radio Worm
As yourvoiceIhear, in the early hours of Sunday, 25th of January at Boomgaardsstraat 69, 3012 XA Rotterdam, I will present a small sound project.
You can tune in person or on the radio @ 9 am CET
Entrance free. Info here: https://worm.org/production/25-hour-radio-relay-2/
THE ARCHIVE OF SAID AND UNSAID THINGS
This will be a radiophonic performance where I will explore communication, memory, and the emotional architecture of the voice and the body. Using real personal voicemail fragments, text-to-speech readings, and improvised singing processed live, I will try to construct a sonic cartography of myself by mapping in sound past conversations and reflections stored and forgotten inside a phone and old notebooks. I will examine how words and tones of the voice affect an imaginative physical shield. Where words cut deeper than knives, as people say. Using conversational exerts as an architectural tool, shaping and imaginary foam walls in my mind, echo chambers, and inner padded rooms where unsaid things reverberate, slow down or break into pieces. Past selves fall into the present like broken recordings, glitching, stuttering, disappearing. By layering, granular processing and live vocal improvisation, I will move between the raw and the processed, between confession and silence, between the private and the broadcast. It challenges the cringe of hearing your own past. A ritual of listening, remembering, and perhaps releasing.
A case for libretto ep. 2 @ Radio Worm - 15.06.26 / 5pm CET
A Case for Libretto returns to Radio Worm for the second episode! A special guest will be Yves_O, also known as Ivo Ivanov. Ivo is a multidisciplinary artist from Sofia with a keen mind and a sharp tongue, whose words and sound move us on the dance floor and in the heart. He will join us on the phone from Sofia, and we will ask him about words, nature, walking in the city, performance, and where their crossings are. He is a driving force behind the Sofia Underground Performance Art Festival and was one of the key figures of Studio Dauhaus, Sofia’s first independent art space. He will share about his involvement in the first edition of SFERA, the first immersive audio event in Sofia, which will happen on January 17th @ Toplocentrala. For more info, join us on the 15th at 5 pm CET, or listen later on Mixcloud.
parent presents: a case for libretto @ Radio WORM - pilot episode 06.11.25 / 17h
A case for libretto is a radio series exploring experimental forms of nonlinear narrative. In each episode, we Viktoria and Isul, invite a guest artist to share their practice and join us in reimagining the libretto as a space where text, voice, and sound intertwine. The series moves between live performance and discussions around the artist’s works, and becomes a collaborative space to explore how stories might unfold through the medium of radio.
In our pilot episode we will have a conversation with film maker, poet and thinker Omar Mirza.
You can listen it live between 17-18h on Radio Worm - https://radio.worm.org/
You can also find the conversation recorded later over here - https://www.mixcloud.com/radiowormrotterdam/
HARDKOOR @ Amsterdam, Meervart / 09.09.2025
Tickets and info: https://meervaart.nl/agenda/hardkoor
a stream of self-consciousness, set to techno, trip hop and choral music
“I am not being burned out at home. I am at home burning out my doubts. And once my doubts are burned out, I will come out and I will play with you.”
Naomi Velissariou’s razor-sharp language, seamlessly blending English and Dutch to shatter suffocating human ideals, is interwoven in HARDKOOR with the mind-bending sound design of Joost Maaskant (Maask) and Frank Wienk (Binkbeats). Previously, Velissariou and Maaskant formed the duo PERMANENT DESTRUCTION. Producer Frank Wienk translates their sound in HARDKOOR into a composition that explores the boundaries between acoustic and electronic music. This composition is performed by drummer Jens Bouttery and Nederlands Kamerkoor (Dutch Chamber Choir).
The performance unfolds in a setting described by designer Boris Acket as a “brutalist techno temple”: a modular installation of light and sound technology, with a special role for the choir’s voices. The costumes consist of high-fashion loungewear, designed by MAISON the FAUX.
The combination of painfully honest text, hypnotic sound design rhythms, the grandeur of choral singing, the raw austerity of the installation, and the high-fashion aesthetic of the costumes make HARDKOOR a harmonizing ritual of meaning in times of hysterical reality.
HARDKOOR is a co-production of Theater Utrecht and Nederlands Kamerkoor, in collaboration with Holland Festival, NKK NXT alumni, and Nicole Beutler Projects.
English and Dutch spoken, with English surtitles.
Warning: This performance involves loud noise and flashing lights, and a stroboscope is used.
HARDKOOR @ Amsterdam, Meervart / 08.09.2025
Tickets and info: https://meervaart.nl/agenda/hardkoor
a stream of self-consciousness, set to techno, trip hop and choral music
“I am not being burned out at home. I am at home burning out my doubts. And once my doubts are burned out, I will come out and I will play with you.”
Leading up to her fortieth birthday, a co-parenting mother and performance artist withdraws from public life for a year. Stuck in the stagnation of her burnout, she battles against the pressure of time, the expectations she tries to escape, and her excessive self-awareness and self-criticism. Through a personal ordeal of language, music, and movement, she carves a path toward a shameless existence, where the never-ending search for validation is replaced by radical self-love and a not-so-boring balance. Under the motto “never waste a good crisis,” she confronts, in the presence of the audience, the personal and societal blind spots that have led her to this state of being.
Naomi Velissariou’s razor-sharp language, seamlessly blending English and Dutch to shatter suffocating human ideals, is interwoven in HARDKOOR with the mind-bending sound design of Joost Maaskant (Maask) and Frank Wienk (Binkbeats). Previously, Velissariou and Maaskant formed the duo PERMANENT DESTRUCTION. Producer Frank Wienk translates their sound in HARDKOOR into a composition that explores the boundaries between acoustic and electronic music. This composition is performed by drummer Jens Bouttery and Nederlands Kamerkoor (Dutch Chamber Choir).
The performance unfolds in a setting described by designer Boris Acket as a “brutalist techno temple”: a modular installation of light and sound technology, with a special role for the choir’s voices. The costumes consist of high-fashion loungewear, designed by MAISON the FAUX.
The combination of painfully honest text, hypnotic sound design rhythms, the grandeur of choral singing, the raw austerity of the installation, and the high-fashion aesthetic of the costumes make HARDKOOR a harmonizing ritual of meaning in times of hysterical reality.
HARDKOOR is a co-production of Theater Utrecht and Nederlands Kamerkoor, in collaboration with Holland Festival, NKK NXT alumni, and Nicole Beutler Projects.
English and Dutch spoken, with English surtitles.
Warning: This performance involves loud noise and flashing lights, and a stroboscope is used.
But What About Sessions @ Grey Space in the Middle 3 July, 20:00
Organized by But What About
Thu 3 July
20.00–00.00
€5
For tickets and more information here - https://thegreyspace.net/program/12955/
Bachfest Leipzig 2025 - 22. Juni 2025 @ 18:00 Uhr
Ritchie Riediger »B-A-C-H / THE LAST MINUTE« / 2024 / erscheint 2025 als Graphik, die käuflich erwerbbar ist
On Air On Site - 24/05/2025, 9:00h CET
Tune in for “A Monument of Memory of a Monument” - soundscape, spoken word composition for the On Air On Site edition of 2025 among other amazing works.
More information, program and stream here: https://onaironsite.com/artists/viktoria-nikolova-2
Echo-Elektrik @ ten to ten / December 12th - 12-00h
ten-to-ten is an annual festival organised by ArtScience graduates to fundraise.
We bring sound art, live acts, and ongoing crazy ideas to one place to share students’ talents
📍Laak (Tweede Lulofsdwarsstraat 2)
📅 December 12th
🕛 17h
💲Free entrance
Echo-Elektrik @ Sofia Experimental 2024 - 18.10.2024/ 20:00h
Together with Sound artist Isul Kim we will present our second collaborative work at the second edition of Sofia Experimental Festival organised by Infinity Experimental.
For full program and more details visit - https://www.facebook.com/infinityExperimental
Sewing Grounds Artistic Research Presentation / 27.09.24 - 19:30
Between 23-27th of September I realise an Artistic Research residency at Studio Loos, The Hague.
Sewing Grounds is an interdisciplinary project that explores the interplay between memory, displacement, and sound through the medium of a transformed sewing machine. This performance seeks to capture and translate the folklore music and stories of Scandinavia, Bulgaria, and England, reflecting the physical and emotional landscapes shaped by war and environmental disasters. By sewing a fabric map infused with field recordings and vocal elements, we evoke the lived experiences of displaced communities, connecting their pasts to the present.
The project emphasizes the intimate relationship between everyday objects and cultural rituals, merging domestic practices with sacred acts. Through the act of sewing, we map the sonic landscapes of migration, revealing how the pressures of history are stitched into the fabric of our identities. The incorporation of conductive materials allows for a dynamic auditory experience, amplifying the needle's impact and the fabric's response.
Viktoria Nikolova in colaboration with musicians Phoebe Kirrage and Julie Hasfjord, cellist Leah Plave, and technical support for instrument development, invite the audience into a shared space of reflection and resonance. This ongoing exploration aims to honor and transmit the memories of those who have experienced displacement, weaving together threads of history, culture, and sound.
Tickets and more information can be found here - https://www.loosdenhaag.com/agenda/sewing-grounds-by-viktoria-nikolova
Meraque @ Lost Gypsy Land Festival / 22.08.2024
This August I have the immense pleasure of performing in the central Balkan next to the village of Stokite, Bulgaria as a guest vocalist of Meraque band.
Listen more of Meraque band here —> https://www.krooks-records.com/artist/meraque/ <3
More information about the festival can be found here - https://www.instagram.com/p/DADVufNIu7f/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lostgipsyland/
CRAWLSPACE
Presenting "The Eternal Parent” together with Gaz aka Isul Kim.
Excited to take part in the Crawlspace Series for experimental music in The Hague together with Concepción Huerta, Klyl & Seina, DJ AUDIO and Na-Ah.
Timetable:
20:00 doors
20:30 Concepción Huerta
21:15 Klyl & Seina
22:00 yourvoicesIhear & gaz
22:45 DJ AUDIO
23:45 Na-Ah
For more info and tickets: https://crawwwl.eu/
Bitter Blossoms - Nettles and Hemlock Tour @ Murphy's Law The Hague, NL /20.07.24 - 21h/
We are heading on a tour again!
It has been a long-anticipated program which we are super proud to present in the Netherlands and UK. The first stop is our favourite Murphy's Law in The Hague! Get Tickets
HARDKOOR @ Holland Festival 2024
HARDKOOR
trailer - https://youtu.be/jSN-bOIUXzk
A stand-up tragedy concert, a stream-of-self-consciousness set to techno, trip-hop and choral music
Following the groundbreaking trilogy PERMANENT DESTRUCTION, Naomi Velissariou, together with the Netherlands Chamber Choir, alumni of NKK NXT (the trainee program of the NKK), composer and producer Frank Wienk (Binkbeats), and drummer Jens Bouttery, forms a new musical-theatrical formation: HARDKOOR is a stand-up tragedy concert, a stream of self-consciousness set to techno, trip-hop, and choral music.
An unmarried mother and artist retreats from public life for a year prior to her fortieth birthday. From the standstill of her burnout, she battles against the pressure of time, against the images she tries to escape by conforming or not, and against her excessive self-awareness and self-criticism. Through a personal struggle in language, music, and movement, she paves her way to a shameless existence, where the never-ending search for validation gives way to radical self-love and a not-so-boring balance.
According to Velissariou, a burnout is not a work-related condition but a disease of the entire system, both physically, mentally, and spiritually. Under the motto "never waste a good crisis," she completes the last part of her rehabilitation process in the presence of the audience. At a pace allowed by her body at that moment, she confronts the personal and societal blind spots that brought her to this state: her insecurity as a single mother, the pressure of social media, the disturbed relationship with her body, the cult of growth and self-improvement, the bullshitization of our working life, the commercialization of care, the bankruptcy of the family as the foundation of society, and the constant overstimulation of our brain due to our contemporary way of life.
Velissariou's harsh language, aiming to shatter suffocating human images in a fluent combination of English and Dutch, is interlaced with the mind-bending sound design of Joost Maaskant and Frank Wienk (Binkbeats) in HARDKOOR. Velissariou previously formed the duo PERMANENT DESTRUCTION with Maaskant. Producer Frank Wienk translates their sound into a composition for HARDKOOR that explores the boundaries between acoustic and electronic music. This composition is performed by drummer Jens Bouttery, the Netherlands Chamber Choir in collaboration with NKK NXT alumni. The entire production takes place in a set described by designer Boris Acket as a "brutalist techno temple": a modular installation of light and sound technology, with a special role for the voices of the choir. The costumes consist of high fashion loungewear designed by MAISON the FAUX.
HARDKOOR is a co-production between the Netherlands Chamber Choir and NKK NXT alumni, and Theater Utrecht, by invitation of the Netherlands Chamber Choir.
Credits
concept, regie, tekst en performance Naomi Velissariou muzikale compositie Joost Maaskant, Frank Wienk (Binkbeats) muzikale regie Frank Wienk (Binkbeats) drums, percussie, live electronics Jens Bouttery zang Nederlands Kamerkoor in samenwerking met NKK NXT-alumni repetitor Béni Csillag Artistieke vertegenwoordiging NKK Imre Ploeg scenografie en licht Boris Acket kostuumontwerp Maison the Faux geluidstechnisch systeemontwerp Sander van der Werff outside eye Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe onmisbare hulp Casper Vandeputte regie-assistent Lindsy Dias bewegingscoach, choreografie koor Nicole Beutler productie Theater Utrecht coproductie Theater Utrecht, Holland Festival, Nederlands Kamerkoor, Nicole Beutler Projects tekst ‘I am a parent’ gebaseerd op en geïnspireerd door 'A life's work' van Rachel Cusk met dank aan Anne Breure, Lucien Rentmeester, Thomas Dudkiewicz, Luca Meisters, Cristian Boscheri, Sylvia Bosmans, Tassouli Velissariou, Fransje naar een initiatief van Nederlands Kamerkoor
HARDKOOR @ Holland Festival 2024
HARDKOOR
trailer - https://youtu.be/jSN-bOIUXzk
A stand-up tragedy concert, a stream-of-self-consciousness set to techno, trip-hop and choral music
Following the groundbreaking trilogy PERMANENT DESTRUCTION, Naomi Velissariou, together with the Netherlands Chamber Choir, alumni of NKK NXT (the trainee program of the NKK), composer and producer Frank Wienk (Binkbeats), and drummer Jens Bouttery, forms a new musical-theatrical formation: HARDKOOR is a stand-up tragedy concert, a stream of self-consciousness set to techno, trip-hop, and choral music.
An unmarried mother and artist retreats from public life for a year prior to her fortieth birthday. From the standstill of her burnout, she battles against the pressure of time, against the images she tries to escape by conforming or not, and against her excessive self-awareness and self-criticism. Through a personal struggle in language, music, and movement, she paves her way to a shameless existence, where the never-ending search for validation gives way to radical self-love and a not-so-boring balance.
According to Velissariou, a burnout is not a work-related condition but a disease of the entire system, both physically, mentally, and spiritually. Under the motto "never waste a good crisis," she completes the last part of her rehabilitation process in the presence of the audience. At a pace allowed by her body at that moment, she confronts the personal and societal blind spots that brought her to this state: her insecurity as a single mother, the pressure of social media, the disturbed relationship with her body, the cult of growth and self-improvement, the bullshitization of our working life, the commercialization of care, the bankruptcy of the family as the foundation of society, and the constant overstimulation of our brain due to our contemporary way of life.
Velissariou's harsh language, aiming to shatter suffocating human images in a fluent combination of English and Dutch, is interlaced with the mind-bending sound design of Joost Maaskant and Frank Wienk (Binkbeats) in HARDKOOR. Velissariou previously formed the duo PERMANENT DESTRUCTION with Maaskant. Producer Frank Wienk translates their sound into a composition for HARDKOOR that explores the boundaries between acoustic and electronic music. This composition is performed by drummer Jens Bouttery, the Netherlands Chamber Choir in collaboration with NKK NXT alumni. The entire production takes place in a set described by designer Boris Acket as a "brutalist techno temple": a modular installation of light and sound technology, with a special role for the voices of the choir. The costumes consist of high fashion loungewear designed by MAISON the FAUX.
HARDKOOR is a co-production between the Netherlands Chamber Choir and NKK NXT alumni, and Theater Utrecht, by invitation of the Netherlands Chamber Choir.
Credits
concept, regie, tekst en performance Naomi Velissariou muzikale compositie Joost Maaskant, Frank Wienk (Binkbeats) muzikale regie Frank Wienk (Binkbeats) drums, percussie, live electronics Jens Bouttery zang Nederlands Kamerkoor in samenwerking met NKK NXT-alumni repetitor Béni Csillag Artistieke vertegenwoordiging NKK Imre Ploeg scenografie en licht Boris Acket kostuumontwerp Maison the Faux geluidstechnisch systeemontwerp Sander van der Werff outside eye Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe onmisbare hulp Casper Vandeputte regie-assistent Lindsy Dias bewegingscoach, choreografie koor Nicole Beutler productie Theater Utrecht coproductie Theater Utrecht, Holland Festival, Nederlands Kamerkoor, Nicole Beutler Projects tekst ‘I am a parent’ gebaseerd op en geïnspireerd door 'A life's work' van Rachel Cusk met dank aan Anne Breure, Lucien Rentmeester, Thomas Dudkiewicz, Luca Meisters, Cristian Boscheri, Sylvia Bosmans, Tassouli Velissariou, Fransje naar een initiatief van Nederlands Kamerkoor
HARDKOOR @ Holland Festival 2024
HARDKOOR
trailer - https://youtu.be/jSN-bOIUXzk
A stand-up tragedy concert, a stream-of-self-consciousness set to techno, trip-hop and choral music
Following the groundbreaking trilogy PERMANENT DESTRUCTION, Naomi Velissariou, together with the Netherlands Chamber Choir, alumni of NKK NXT (the trainee program of the NKK), composer and producer Frank Wienk (Binkbeats), and drummer Jens Bouttery, forms a new musical-theatrical formation: HARDKOOR is a stand-up tragedy concert, a stream of self-consciousness set to techno, trip-hop, and choral music.
An unmarried mother and artist retreats from public life for a year prior to her fortieth birthday. From the standstill of her burnout, she battles against the pressure of time, against the images she tries to escape by conforming or not, and against her excessive self-awareness and self-criticism. Through a personal struggle in language, music, and movement, she paves her way to a shameless existence, where the never-ending search for validation gives way to radical self-love and a not-so-boring balance.
According to Velissariou, a burnout is not a work-related condition but a disease of the entire system, both physically, mentally, and spiritually. Under the motto "never waste a good crisis," she completes the last part of her rehabilitation process in the presence of the audience. At a pace allowed by her body at that moment, she confronts the personal and societal blind spots that brought her to this state: her insecurity as a single mother, the pressure of social media, the disturbed relationship with her body, the cult of growth and self-improvement, the bullshitization of our working life, the commercialization of care, the bankruptcy of the family as the foundation of society, and the constant overstimulation of our brain due to our contemporary way of life.
Velissariou's harsh language, aiming to shatter suffocating human images in a fluent combination of English and Dutch, is interlaced with the mind-bending sound design of Joost Maaskant and Frank Wienk (Binkbeats) in HARDKOOR. Velissariou previously formed the duo PERMANENT DESTRUCTION with Maaskant. Producer Frank Wienk translates their sound into a composition for HARDKOOR that explores the boundaries between acoustic and electronic music. This composition is performed by drummer Jens Bouttery, the Netherlands Chamber Choir in collaboration with NKK NXT alumni. The entire production takes place in a set described by designer Boris Acket as a "brutalist techno temple": a modular installation of light and sound technology, with a special role for the voices of the choir. The costumes consist of high fashion loungewear designed by MAISON the FAUX.
HARDKOOR is a co-production between the Netherlands Chamber Choir and NKK NXT alumni, and Theater Utrecht, by invitation of the Netherlands Chamber Choir.
Credits
concept, regie, tekst en performance Naomi Velissariou muzikale compositie Joost Maaskant, Frank Wienk (Binkbeats) muzikale regie Frank Wienk (Binkbeats) drums, percussie, live electronics Jens Bouttery zang Nederlands Kamerkoor in samenwerking met NKK NXT-alumni repetitor Béni Csillag Artistieke vertegenwoordiging NKK Imre Ploeg scenografie en licht Boris Acket kostuumontwerp Maison the Faux geluidstechnisch systeemontwerp Sander van der Werff outside eye Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe onmisbare hulp Casper Vandeputte regie-assistent Lindsy Dias bewegingscoach, choreografie koor Nicole Beutler productie Theater Utrecht coproductie Theater Utrecht, Holland Festival, Nederlands Kamerkoor, Nicole Beutler Projects tekst ‘I am a parent’ gebaseerd op en geïnspireerd door 'A life's work' van Rachel Cusk met dank aan Anne Breure, Lucien Rentmeester, Thomas Dudkiewicz, Luca Meisters, Cristian Boscheri, Sylvia Bosmans, Tassouli Velissariou, Fransje naar een initiatief van Nederlands Kamerkoor