STADSCOMPONIST MEIERIJSTAD

Stadscomponist Meierijstad: works in progress

From September 2020 to August 2022 I was appointed as the Stadscomponist (city composer) of Meierijstad. A relatively young municipality in the North-Brabant province, which consists of thirteen villages; Veghel, St. Oedenrode, Schijndel and Erp being the largest among them.

There’s a rich local culture to be found in each village and I visited them all. To help my research and work process I walked through the woods, town squares, around the churches and chapels where I lit candles. The waterways, the infrastructure and industries. Romance for a freight vessel blossomed and I hung out among pipes of organs. My journey resulted in two works: 
 
Compound Chorus
A small scale sound installation in celebration of the workers and all the helpers responsible for manually digging out the Zuid-Willemsvaart 200 years ago. They replaced sand for water, enabling the slow moving steel of freight transports. Today, the canal is still a vital part of infrastructure, connecting ’s-Hertogenbosch to Liège.

I recorded resonant frequencies in the belly of freight ship De Oostenwind and played them back into the ship’s hull. This caused the vessel to vibrate at exactly 139Hz. The resulting installation was presented at Dat Wat Blijft,
a floating exhbition initiated by artist Monique Broekman.

Conversations: Friends, Air, Space, Resonance.

Modern minimal music for church organ, inspried by important patron saints of Meierijstad: Cecilia (patron of musicians), Oda (patron against blindness), Rita (patron of the impossible) and Barbara (patron of miners and tunnellers).

This music invites a dialog between the audience and patrons. My goal was establish new connections between the performers and their instrument, by playing the organ and the space in different ways.

The premiere took place on May 7th, 2022 as a special parallel concert, which created a metaphysical resonance throughout the entirety of Meierijstad.