Double World Premieres: Celia Swart and William Knight at Gaudeamus Festival 2026

The upcoming Gaudeamus Festival 2026 is set to host a groundbreaking musical dialogue between the seventeenth and twenty-first centuries. On Friday, September 11, 2026, the renowned early music ensemble Castello Consort will take the stage in Utrecht Central to present highly anticipated new works by composers Celia Swart and William Knight. Both contemporary pieces were specially commissioned as centerpiece components of Castello Consort’s larger project titled Leonora. The core inspiration for both Swart and Knight’s new creations is Leonora Duarte, a Flemish composer who lived from 1610 to 1678 and holds a monumental place in music history. Duarte is the earliest known woman to have composed secular instrumental chamber music that survived to the modern day, specifically a collection of seven sinfonias. During this festival concert, Castello Consort bridges the past and the present by interweaving Duarte’s original seventeenth-century sinfonias with these modern reflections. Celia Swart brings her distinct contemporary voice to the project with the world premiere of Muze. This brand-new twelve-minute piece serves as a direct modern reflection on Duarte’s legacy, custom-tailored for the specific period instruments of the Castello Consort. Sharing the center stage, William Knight introduces his own brand-new world premiere work for the ensemble. Knight’s new composition offers a parallel contemporary dialogue with Duarte’s musical legacy, expanding the project’s exploration of historical textures through a modern compositional lens alongside a third premiere by composer Katherine Teng. This special performance takes place as part of the Gaudeamus 2026 Friday Night evening program, which runs from 17:00 to 23:30. Various inner-city venues in Utrecht Central, such as TivoliVredenburg or Theater Kikker, form the decor for this festival block.