Musicaz
Dag van de Componist 2024 celebrates Dutch composers with a special performance by Annabel Schouten and Musicaz in Utrecht. The performance begins in various parts of the city, culminating at Utrecht Centraal Station, where choirs from the city join and sing together. Schouten’s work focuses on space, silence, and sound, inviting the audience to connect with the environment and each other. Musicaz, a collective of musicians from Utrecht's asylum seeker centers, was founded by Jonás Bisquert to share global musical traditions. Over the years, they've collaborated with many musical groups, including the famous “Band Zonder Verblijfsvergunning.”
During the Dag van de Componist 2024, an initiative by New Music NOW, Dutch composers take the spotlight. The day-long festival features a unique train journey, where musicians perform the works of local composers across several cities in the Netherlands. The journey concludes in Utrecht, where the young sound artist Annabel Schouten, along with Musicaz and Oorkaan, presents their work.Musicaz, a collective of Utrecht musicians from asylum seeker centers (AZC), has been bringing diverse musical traditions together for over a decade. What began as a weekly music-making initiative led by Jonás Bisquert has grown into collaborations with numerous musical groups, including the notable “Band Zonder Verblijfsvergunning.” In addition to their contributions during the festival, Musicaz performs earlier in the day in Hoog Catharijne.Schouten's performance focuses on space, silence, and surrounding sounds, engaging the audience in a relationship with the location and one another. Her unique musical experience will begin in different parts of Utrecht, gradually merging on the stationsquare at Utrecht Centraal Station. Local choirs, arriving on bicycles from various parts of the city, will join in the performance, blending their voices with the work of the Componist des Vaderlands Anne-Maartje Lemereis. Once Lemereis' piece concludes, the choirs will once again take over, slowly fading as they return to their original locations.
