FLEMMING, Remme, Nona, Sanne Rambags and Rianne Wilbers. Names that are not unknown to residents of Brabant. These young artists were supported in their musical and personal development by the Music Hub Brabant programme. This one-year post-master trajectory focuses on the development of ten young creators. Each talent follows a tailor-made development path and is guided by a programmer from a Brabant stage.
For the contemporary music festival November Music this year's batch will showcase their promising music for the future in a three-hour long colourful parade. They include Eindhoven-based pianist and singer Pau Li Liem and composer and pianist Aura Construction from Tilburg. I spoke to them before the Music Hub Night next Monday at the Verkadefabriek in Den Bosch.
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"I hear the sounds in my head and from then on it's just the art of getting them out," says Bouw. "It was very natural for me to become a composer. Through Music Hub, I was given the freedom to create my dream project." Bouw started playing the guitar at the age of three, preferably rock. She couldn't read notes before she started studying at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Tilburg. That did not detract from her talent: at twenty-four, she picks up all the projects she can tackle.
"I prefer to experiment in concert, where I see how much freedom I can give a musician. As a composer, you are told that you have to capture everything down to the articulation. Then you basically wouldn't be able to hear the difference between two guitarists. Instead, I am curious to see how a guitarist's identity still shines through in a piece, while I give him a story he can dialogue with. That is also what I will do in November Music: I made a story and guitarist Sjors van der Mark will improvise on it. That way, I hope he makes the music he feels at that moment."
Brabant talent
"You don't often see only Brabant talent bundled together at one festival," explains Brabant Music Hub project coordinator Rick Hoedemaker. "Within the thirteen Brabant venues and festivals we work with, November Music is one of the few to dedicate an entire evening to young musicians. The fact that thirteen venues in Brabant, including 013, Effenaar and Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, want to jointly stimulate talent development means that they want to give young talents from Brabant a stage and integrate them into the Brabant music sector. This collaboration is truly something Brabant."
Composer Bouw was nominated by programmer Tom Swart, also pianist in Blaudzun's band and director of Intro in Situ. She took a maker course with him, and had to perform every month. She was also given the space to start new projects. One of those projects is an interdisciplinary project together with Fleur Bax. Bouw: "I make music and Bax makes the image. From January 2023, that film can go out into the world. I can also give Fleur financial support thanks to the money the province of Brabant is putting into Music Hub. I notice that I really enjoy visual composing and I hope to throw myself even more into film music in the future."
Pictorialist
"Music Hub gives me the chance to make something that I think is really cool. As a musician, you are always dependent on funds, grants and patrons. As a composer, it's great to just be able to dream really freely as a creator. And to also hear from other people: we believe in you as a maker ."
On performance nights such as Music Hub Night, Bouw seeks a balance between composition and improvisation. She wants to maintain her role as composer but at the same time give freedom to other musicians to improvise.
In addition, Bouw likes the duality of music. "A piece can be poignant and show beauty at the same time. I don't think in those extremes because mine are very close to each other. Because I think in sounds and am also a visual thinker, I always try to make an all-encompassing piece."
Flames
Pianist Pau Li Liem is also one of the 10 musicians following Music Hub's route this year. Due to corona, the two pianists have never seen each other in real life, so at the Music Hub Night it will be the first time. "I don't see the trajectory as competition otherwise, thankfully. Everyone has their own development path and I want to see my colleagues grow as much as possible. The opportunities you receive in the form of workshops and professionalising your profession increase the better you are in the project," says Liem. "For instance, I started recording an album. In it, I was able to delve into musical sides of me that I didn't know so well before and can now develop further. "
During November Music, Liem will perform with two classmates from the Brabant Conservatory of Music, bassist Stef Joosten and drummer Jorrit Romme. The piece Nyala, Indonesian for flame, focuses on the unpredictable sound palette of flames. The trio tries to create new worlds of sound by scrutinising their own compositions. Li Liem: "It's pop, it's jazz, it's rhythmic aspects with a lot of free improvisation. What we will play does not cover one style of music."
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Liem could regularly be found at the jazz venue Paradox in Tilburg, where there were almost no concerts during the corona pandemic. But the piano remained, on which she could practise a lot. She was eventually nominated by her piano teacher Sjoerd, who saw all her pieces pass by in her lessons. In the Music Hub route, she feels she has a purpose.
"It has been the moment for me to think concretely about what I want to work towards. Which opportunities should I pass up, what do I need to improve to make myself even more professional? During the Music Hub Brabant workshops, I learned a lot about myself and how to present myself as an artist. Besides, it's really nice to get extra confirmation from people who trust you and see something in you. That makes you go further... and you really get that extra push you sometimes need as an artist."
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