Festive Days in The Hague 16 & 17 October 2026

Come and travel through time with me

What happens when music from the 14th century meets music from today? What connects Machaut, Monteverdi, Louis Andriessen, Michael Gordon, the young composer Lydia Gardiner, film director Tassos Gkoletsos, Ensemble Klang, the Residentie Orkest, viola da gamba soloist Mieneke van der Velden, and many others — together with my own Greek Dance and Fleur Muette?

This is exactly what I wanted to explore as guest curator of the 77th edition of Dag in de Branding, taking place in The Hague on 16 and 17 October.

I chose Ars Nova as the theme — not simply because it means “new art”, but because I am fascinated by the way music is constantly renewed and revived. In the body of music, we don’t experience time as old and new. We experience the vivid emotional and spiritual response of the magical chain of music unfolding, revealing to us that time doesn’t really exist.

Over these two days, I have brought together music from very different times and worlds. You will hear medieval and Renaissance music alongside contemporary works by composers who have been important to me, regardless of the time in which they lived.

The festival begins on Friday 16 October with the Residentie Orkest at Amare. They will perform two of my orchestral works, Falling and Thin Air. During the concert, I will also receive the Johan Wagenaar Prize for my complete oeuvre, which makes this evening especially meaningful to me.

On Saturday, I invite you to follow my own musical journey. We will meet some of the teachers who shaped me when I came to The Hague from Greece, composers who became my imagined mentors, and musicians and composers who are shaping the future. There will be music by Diderik Wagenaar, Gilius van Bergeijk and Louis Andriessen, but also Machaut, Monteverdi, John Cage, David Fennessy, Lydia Gardiner and, of course, my own music.

In the evening, Ensemble Klang takes us somewhere completely different with Michael Gordon’s Trance. My Greek Dance, originally written for piano in 1990, will also be heard in a new arrangement for Klang’s 23 amplified musicians.

I invite you to come and listen, discover, wander through time, let go of our daily worries, and hopefully make some unexpected connections of your own.

Dag in de Branding 77: Ars Nova — 16 & 17 October 2026, The Hague.

I hope to see you there!