We are a group creating music theater performances re-sculpting the genres of theater, performance, composition and music into our own language. Our name “Klanktheater” means sound theater in Dutch. Our research question is “How do we as artists from different disciplines create music theater?” and we are staying busy trying all kinds of new ideas and combinations.
Themes of nature, the power of sensing our surroundings, and creating visual performances with music, sound, and text are at the forefront, as is finding a way to bring to full attention of our audience to listen and watch with us.
Who we are
Theater maker and harpist Iris van der Ende studied theater at the Toneelacademie van Maastricht where she graduated in 2012 as a performer. She studied harp at the Arnhem conservatory with Manja Smits. For her search for of the cutting edge for theater and music, she studied at the Master Music Theater T.I.M.E. from the Royal Conservatoire and the Veenfabriek. In her work, the cosmos is central at the moment: She plays with the forces of nature and sounds. Her sound poem Waai represents the wind and various wind forces in the polder landscape and her star sound performance Stellar Sound Show turns the universe into a concert hall by making the sounds of stars heard and seen in a dialogue in the middle of the sky. “Cosmosmusician” – an artist who enters into dialogue with the forces of nature. Iris works with dramaturgs Marijn van der Jagt and Tess Scholten, performer Bart van de Woestijne, laser designer Hans Lasschuit, and mime company Walking Faces. She has worked with the festivals Parade, Oerol, Tweetakt, Cultura Nova, Theater Kikker.
Clara Rivière Visier is a Spanish cellist with chameleonic qualities building her path through contemporary arts. She obtained her master’s degree in classical cello with an emphasis in chamber music and contemporary performance at Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Tilburg, the Netherlands with cellist Monique Heidema. In addition she studies psychology and has a lifelong passion for theatre. She combines the knowledge of these studies into an expressive and personal way of teaching and performing. During her studies she began building important collaborations, such as experimental music theater Zvov trio, classical piano trio Dáviro, and Stichting Goedlaak (new compositions for interactive audiences). Performing contemporary music is a central part of her work, especially the collaboration with composers and other artists, and she has performed her own texts and music at times, such as her work Grenzen (Borders) where bodies became canvases as they were painted while playing. Clara has performed in festivals such as Gaudeamus Muziekweek (NL), Jazz Festival Aarhus (DK), and LaBO # 5 (BE).
Yvonne Freckmann is a composer, sound artist and pianist traveling the world through music. Now based in the Netherlands, she orginally came to the Royal Conservatory the Hague to study multimedia composition with Yannis Kyriakides and Peter Adriaansz with the support of a U.S. Fulbright Grant and the Netherland-America Foundation. Music for ensembles and music theater, integration and transcription of field recordings into her concert music, location-based performances, graphic scores, and sound walks keep stretching her imagination: collaborations that push her beyond composer who observes to creator-performer. Current projects are The Voice of the Windmill, music theater for windmill, harp, and wind in collaboration with Iris van der Ende, and “Zvov Sensory” tours as composer with Zvov trio. In October was the premiere of a Musical Bridges Around the World 20th anniversary homecoming commission in San Antonio, Texas, a trio for violin, mezzo-soprano, and piano with her own poetry. Yvonne’s piano and composition training began as a child, leading to Trinity University (Texas), University of Louisville (Kentucky), and the Royal Conservatory the Hague (Netherlands). In November 2016 she participated in a formative “Mmabolela Field Recording Workshop” with Francisco Lòpez and Barbara Ellison, two weeks of field exploration and listening in the wilderness of South Africa.
Werkplaats K Artists in Residence
In October 2017, we kicked off our residency in Kerkrade, South-Limburg, the Netherlands in a fantastic artist collective called Werkplaats K. Located in a former school building, 18 artists of disciplines ranging from painting, photography, theater technician, opera singer, to textiles, this group creates art in touch with the community. They invited us to become residents for a year to use an atelier space and create new work! Now we’ve begun a big cross-over project with several of the artists to make art that can even be touched and heard. DEEP – Discover Experiment Evoke Perform. Monthly workshops and rehearsals will lead to our final performance in October 2018 during “Multiply by Sharing IX.”
Projects
De stem van de molen / The voice of the windmill – created by Iris & Yvonne
This outdoor music theater performance brings the audience to listen and feel the wind, place, music, and story while enjoying the hypnotic turning (or not, if the wind refuses!) of these ancient giants in the Dutch landscape. Iris wondered, what would happen if we tie loudspeakers to the wings and it turns? How can we make a duet with harp and windmill? So that’s what we set out to do, experimenting away in the countryside outside of Leiden, come rain, cold, wind or no wind. All with help from our miller volunteers. Our official premiere we were honored to present at the Kunstsymposium Oogsten in Margraten, South Limburg at the “VanTienhovenmolen” with miller Kees Barten. We also performed in the Nationale Molendag in Oud-Ade with miller Hans Lippens, and in Cultura Nova Festival 2017 in Nuth with miller Jean Delbressine, and in Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2018 with millers Piet van Oss & Marloes Stofferis.
A Walshe’s Dream – work in progress by us three
This is a music theater performance combining video, live theater, music, and … we shall see! We presented a sketch version at open-atelier weekend “Multiply by Sharing VIII” in October 2017, and are deep in rehearsal process working out ideas inspired by composer-vocalist Jennifer Walshe.
Der Weiße Wald / The White Woods — collaboration Yvonne & Clara
A music theater fairy tale for acting cellist, narrator, and scenography/live painting. Here we were invited to present during Sabine Jakob’s exhibition at POST-Kerkrade. We performed inside of her white and silvery woods sculptures called “Lichtfänger / Lightcatcher”. A cello at long last returned to the woods. But there it waits for it needs arms to sound… Premiered in November 2017.
Molenharp – created by Yvonne & Iris
Performance taking our windmill project indoors. Here, the movement of the wings, birds, and other elements become the video score projected through the harp strings. Iris then creates music through the link of her arm movement with the film. Music theater for harp, projection, and electronics. Premiere at open-atelier weekend “Multiply by Sharing VIII” in October 2017 in Kerkrade.
Cinco Letras – created by Yvonne & Clara
Many times one attends performances with the cellist facing you, not knowing the score. This performance turns it around. Clara sits in the audience with her cello, and the audience is invited to read the graphic score along. We first performed it in December 2015 in the Hague, and most recently at open-atelier weekend “Multiply by Sharing VIII” in October 2017 in Kerkrade.
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The White Woods (English)$10.00 -
Der weiße Wald (German)$10.00