Programs

A musical mosaic of encounters with ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

What happens when you really listen to the people you normally pass by – the people who sometimes live right next to you? In Alle Markten Thuis, a violinist and a singer set out to the market they happen to live next to, in an attempt to make contact with ‘the other’ who sometimes seems so far away. “Who are you, and what is important to you? May I hear your story, and we will give you a life song in return.”

Alle Markten Thuis is a theatrical concert in which six encounters with market traders – from a Volendam fishmonger to a Surinamese sandwich seller, from an Amsterdam pancake baker to an Iranian regular – form the basis for six brand-new pieces of music. Each conversation is passed on to a lyricist and composer, who converts the story into music. The result? A colourful mix of styles, perspectives and sounds, performed by vocals, violin, harp and double bass. A surprising, musical ode to the market as a mini-society — full of humor, emotion and recognition.

With their own market stall as a stage, makers and initiators Valentine Blangé and Isabel Pronk pay tribute to conversation, to listening, to being allowed to be different from each other. In a world that is becoming increasingly fragmented, with this project they attempt to put their own musical bubble at the service of connecting: classical musicians with market people, storytellers with composers, audience with passers-by.

Lyrics: Amanda Payne

Compositions: Camiel Jansen, Sarah Neutkens, Jasmine Karimova, Michele Mazzini, Benjamin de Boer, Valentine Blangé

Photo: Studio Sluis (Sam van der Sluis)

This performance will premiere on 27 June 2025 and will tour the country this summer. For bookings; please contact us.

A theatrical concert for those who dare to wander

For her tour as 'Dutch Classical Talent' Isabel created a theatrical and musical journey through a lonely night. She takes the audience through a night in which the main character feels for the first time in ages what loneliness and darkness are. With monologues written by Amanda Payne and accompanied by a piano trio, this story is told through music by Astor Piazzolla, Kurt Weill and Wende Snijders, among others. Sarah Neutkens composed a new song cycle especially for Isabel that forms the dead of the night. A special concert about loneliness, strength, vulnerability, togetherness and returning to (your own) light.

Photo: Juri Hiensch

A tango opera by the women of today

Fearless, sensual, powerful and vulnerable, a young woman sings about her life and thoughts, accompanied by three women on piano, cello and violin. About men, ambition, love, her place in society and the loss of her child. With monologues from Ulysses by James Joyce and tango music by Astor Piazzolla, Pablo Ziegler and Manuel de Falla, among others.

The performance won the pitch of the Grachtenfestival and the audience award of the Cafe Theaterfestival in 2022.