This May, the VU Orchestra and conductor Arjan Tien present a series of world premieres by composer and Rogier van Otterloo Award winner Jesse Passenier in Maastricht, Hilversum, and Arnhem. Bridging the worlds of jazz and classical music, the program opens with George Gershwin’s iconic An American in Paris, setting the stage for Passenier’s expansive symphonic language in which improvisation, orchestral colour, and rhythmic vitality converge.
At the heart of the concerts is Fight for Light — an artistic appeal for respect, inclusion, colourful diversity, and connectivity. Through music, Passenier explores the idea of light both literally and metaphorically: as energy, warmth, clarity, and the force that reveals the good in people. His works seek space beyond fear and division — space to dream, create, and imagine new possibilities together.
The spotlight first falls on Piano Concerto No. 1, “Levensdrift”, featuring acclaimed Finnish jazz pianist Kari Ikonen. Combining layered big band harmonies, driving rhythms, jazz improvisation, and late-Romantic orchestral gestures, the concerto unfolds with cinematic intensity and emotional urgency. The journey continues with Becoming the Colour, a concerto for vibraphone and marimba performed by soloist Vincent Houdijk, moving from virtuosic brilliance to moments of luminous stillness and reflection.
With Fight for Light, Passenier offers his vision of how contemporary symphonic music can resonate meaningfully today: rooted in tradition while uniting the virtuoso concerto form with jazz harmony, rhythm, improvisation, and accompaniment practices.
The performances take place on May 24 at Theater aan het Vrijthof, May 29 at Studio 1, and May 31 at Musis Sacrum — a unique opportunity to experience these ambitious new works brought to life for the very first time.
Composers in the crosshairs of our attention