To mark the fifth anniversary of Amare, The Hague’s cultural centre, composer Bianca Bongers presents Amare Diaries, an ambitious series of new works commissioned by the Residentie Orkest. Inspired by the building’s architecture, atmosphere and changing functions, Bongers translates its shapes, lines and spatial relationships into a distinctive musical world. The project comprises a central orchestral work, three ensemble pieces and a solo composition, representing her largest creative undertaking to date.
The celebrations begin on Thursday 19 November 2026, when musicians of the Residentie Orkest guide visitors through Amare along a specially designed route featuring four short works: the solo piccolo piece NU, the horn trio Pilaren, the string quintet De eerste dag and the percussion duo Eumq. Each piece offers a different perspective on the building and its spaces.
The project reaches its culmination on Friday 20 November with the world premiere of Amare Diaries, performed by the Residentie Orkest in the Concert Hall. The six-minute orchestral work forms part of the anniversary programme Celebrating 5 Years Amare, an evening that also brings together contemporary dance by Nederlands Dans Theater and music by Paul Dukas, Max Richter and Igor Stravinsky. Conducted by Chloe Rooke, the orchestra’s programme includes the fanfare from Dukas’s La Péri, the Dutch premiere of Richter’s Journey (CP 1919) and Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite (1919).
Over recent months, Bongers has explored Amare through repeated visits, observing how its architecture and atmosphere shift between quiet reflection and lively activity. Her musical response draws on the building’s planes of light and shadow, proportions, pillars and intersecting functions. She describes a connection between seeing and hearing: if something is possible in architecture, she believes it must also be possible in music. In the orchestral work, these impressions become a succession of distinct musical planes, held together by vertical chords that evoke the building’s supporting pillars.
The composition also carries a personal dimension. Bongers developed the work during her pregnancy, an experience that adds another layer to a project concerned with space, structure and the creation of new life. With Amare Diaries, she continues her exploration of the relationship between geometric forms and sound, inviting audiences to experience the building not only as a place, but as a musical landscape.
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