Nocturne In EUropean Waters – New European Ensemble

The New European Ensemble delights us on festival Sunday with not one but two performances. One in the concert hall and one outside on the water at the Weerdsluis.

In the evening on the water, New European Ensemble performs a new work which Gaudeamus commissioned Jonas Bisquert to write for the NEE and the Vocal Ensemble Consort from Nijmegen. A work inspired by the theme of water. So it is only logical that it will also receive its premiere on the water. The choir sings, both from the quayside and on the water, parts of the poem The Long European Nights by Randa Awad, who recites the poem in person during the concert.

“Aquatic outdoor musical performance at both sides of a waterway, on the verge of plunging into the long European night.

Water separates and brings together.
Ocean. Sea. River. Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. Oudegracht. Weerdsluis.
Visions emerge across the current.
Water seeps into the live stream of those venturing the European night.
Water is impervious to the thirsty, but absorbs the drowned.”

This concert is the prelude to Festival Beyond, which will visit Utrecht in November. The Festival’s entire programme is constructed around the theme of water.

Read Jonas Bisquert interview, presenting his brand new piece