The third edition of Dutch Composers Day / Dag van de Componist will take place on and around Saturday, 15 June 2024. The festival will showcase hundreds of composers working in the Netherlands in concerts with more than 500 musicians. More than 150 concerts and performances will take place in 15 cities simultaneously. Radio station NPO Klassiek will broadcast new Dutch music throughout the day. The festival is an initiative of the network and platform New Music NOW, which will report live with online TV.
Donemus Publishing proudly presents many composers at the Dutch Composers Day, amongst others, Louis Andriessen, Oscar van Dillen, David Dramm, Rieteke Hölscher, Willem Jeths, Max Knigge, Nikos Kokolakis, Bram Kortekaas, Anette Kruisbrink, Yannis Kyriakides (Amsterdam City Composer), Vanessa Lann, Daan Manneke, Arnold Marinissen, Joey Roukens, Maxim Shalygin, Edward Top, Rick van Veldhuizen, Saskia Venegas, Lucas Wiegerink (Arnhem City Composer), Rijndert van Woudenberg.
With Dutch Composers Day, the Netherlands celebrates the importance, value and enjoyment of live contemporary music. New Music NOW works with composers, ensembles, festivals, venues and other organisations involved in new music. Concerts take place in a variety of venues, not just within but also outside the usual theaters and concert halls. By bringing new music to a wide audience, Dutch Composers Day is committed to launching nothing less than a movement.
The New Music NOW Express, a specially chartered bright red train, is blazing a trail of new music across the country. The train passes through six cities: Amsterdam, Almere, Zwolle, Arnhem, ’s-Hertogenbosch and Utrecht. On board, there will be performances and meetings with composers and musicians, the line-up of which will be announced soon.
In each of the six cities the music train passes through, the festival will appoint a City Composer to compose a city song. Each city song will be performed at a festive station concert in collaboration with choirs, music schools and other organisations in the city. The station concerts will be recorded and streamed live. After each station concert, the audience will be taken on a musical tour through the city for a festive concert programme. The City Composer in Almere is Renske Vrolijk, in Amsterdam Yannis Kyriakides, in Arnhem Lucas Wiegerink, in ‘s-Hertogenbosch Bart van Dongen, in Utrecht Annabel Schouten and in Zwolle Toon Hagen. The Composer Laureate of The Netherlands Anne-Maartje Lemereis will write a composition that will be performed in all the cities.
Composers in the crosshairs of our attention