What does Van Gogh do with you? The Netherlands Chamber Choir presents an overwhelming audiovisual spectacle in which works of art by Vincent van Gogh and Gustav Klimt come to life to compelling music by Debussy, Mahler, Schönberg and others. Specially developed algorithms learned from the painting methodology of Van Gogh and Klimt and allow the works of art to respond live to the grand choral sounds of the Netherlands Chamber Choir and to the emotional experience of singers and audience. The result is a breathtaking performance in which the boundaries between music, image, artist and audience blur.

The idea for this performance arose partly in response to the upcoming exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum and Belvedere Vienna about the sources of inspiration of Gustav Klimt. To connect music and images in an immersive journey through the Europe of Van Gogh and Klimt, the Netherlands Chamber Choir has collaborated with the audiovisual studio fuse* from Italy over the past three years. They analyzed the painting methodology and use of color of Van Gogh and Klimt and developed algorithms that make the brushstrokes come to life. The choral music and the emotions of the audience and singers are retrieved from biometric data during the performance and directly converted into images using four million virtual brushstrokes. In this way, images become audible and music visible in an almost synaesthetic experience.

For Van Gogh in Me, the Nederlands Kamerkoor commissioned one of the first a cappella arrangements for choir of this iconic work for piano by Erik Satie. The arrangement, made by composer William Knight after an idea by Tido Visser, is the first arrangement to use the text of Les Antiques, a poem by J.P. Contamine de Latour. Contamine de Latour was not only a close friend of Satie’s, but his poem probably also inspired Satie’s Gymnopédie: the work ends with the word “gymnopédie” and was published in a magazine in 1888 at the same time as Satie’s first Gymnopédie.

Contamine de Latour’s poem speaks of “fiery atoms of amber” and “whirlwinds of gold” — elements featured in the single’s video. The artwork in the video is based on Van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers and created by the Italian studio fuse* for the Van Gogh in Me performances. The live performances show how the visuals not only react to the music, but also interact live with the emotional experiences of the musicians and the audience via biometric data.