Grachten Festival 2021 - Nachtlicht Ensemble

The Nachtlicht Ensemble consists of 10 young top musicians and is inspired by classical, jazz, non-Western music and improvisations. The ensemble is the winner of the Grachtenfestival Pitch and the Oorkaanprijs 2020. Because of the corona, Boven Water! postponed and will premiere during the festival 2021.

Dutch ships have been sailing all over the world for hundreds of years. The wood of these ships is steeped in countless experiences and has seen an enormous amount of the world. This also applies to the mirror return ship Amstelveen, which made trips to Batavia, Suratte, Canton and the Cape of Good Hope. This VOC ship saw beautiful different cultures on her route, but also the horrors that its passengers caused there.

While the traces of these events still dominate the world today, much has changed in the meantime. More contact is possible between cultures and more knowledge is available so that we open our eyes full of admiration to all the beauty that our ships saw 500 years ago. The Nachtlicht Ensemble takes you on a journey in the footsteps of the Amstelveen with animations by Eline Veldhuisen to music by Arjan Linker. After a journey through 16th-century music from the Netherlands and colourful improvisations inspired by traditional music from India, Indonesia and Japan, we set course for Iran. However, severe weather awaits here, which brings down the Amstelveen: with new work by the Iranian composer Ramin Amin Tafreshi, this last journey of the Amstelveen comes above water again.