For the last four years I’ve been working with the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders to create new concepts for their family concerts in december.
In 2014 we created ‘Ontdek me, Alies’ a concept where the orchestra became the actor of the story – they were Alice, from Alice in wonderland, and the wonderland was the land of music, they would fall, grow, shrink… We were three to work out this new idea to storytelling: Benjamin Lycke (musical arrangements and composition), Mirjam de Wit (educator, production management) and me (direction, video, lighting)
In 2015 ‘Ali Baba’ was the theme. Composer Martin Valcke replaced Benjamien Lycke as composer, Emilie Fremann made the video’s. Martin worked with Rymski Korsakov’s Sheherezade as a base for the composition. Again we decided to create the story only using the orchestra as actors and projection. Osama Abdulrasol joined us on Khanun, he played the part of the brother of Ali Baba, whereas the orchestra were the 40 thieves.
In 2016 we turned the show into a game, and we played ‘Ware wolves’ with the audience and the public. This time we asked Steven Beersmans to be the game master, and the orchestra was the scene of the crime – a village full of decent civilians, at night attacked, from within, by the ware wolves amongst them.
The 2017 project was inspired by the modernists, and will tell an abstract story of shapes and colours, and their interaction with each other. ‘It is redyellowblue and sounds like whoohoo’ will be played in the main Flemish concert halls: de Singel in Antwerp, Concertgebouw Brugge and De Bijloke, Gent.
the red ball at Concertgebouw Brugge
Apart from traditional Symphonic Orchestra’s in 2017 I also collaborated with the Logos Robot Orchestra, directing Erik Satie’s Parade for the Robot’s and logos collaborators: Emilie de Vlam, Moniek Darge and Robot creator and inventor Godfried Willem Raes – the musical arrangement was made by Xavier Verhelst.
In 2018 a collaboration with BOZAR started on an interactive family project based on Gezi park by Fazil Say – working together with partner in crime, Mirjam de Wit and Jeugd en Muziek Brussel.
And with the LUNALIA music festival in Mechelen, where I’ve been creating a new concert concept – the concert as a mooncycle – directing the different components together into a audio visual experience.
Flowing the red line 
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