| Maker | Wilma Pistorius, NAP |
| Duration | 75 min |
What would the future look like if it wasn’t defined by a single voice?
Tales and Mutability is a musical theater piece with Nieuw Amsterdams Peil about finding connection beyond stereotypes and miscommunication. Different characters live in their own worlds, each with their own language: a singer in melody, an actor in text, and a dancer in movement. But what happens when their paths cross? When no single voice is in control and their languages start to blend?
From operatic singing to dance and alto flute to cassette tape
The characters in Tales and Mutability are The Seer, The Pirate Princess, and The Trickster, performed by actors, singers, musicians, and dancers. With live music by Wilma Pistorius (1992), a visual performance with cassette tapes, and constantly shifting sonic identities, a world emerges where a shared language slowly forms. Hopeful and new. Maybe it will inspire you to hear differently too.
During Festival Dag in de Branding, The Hague’s stages, the Residentie Orkest, and various ensembles invite you to discover music so fresh and diverse that it offers a true cross-section of today’s soundscape. Catch performances across the city, meet the latest composers, and chat with musicians about their fascinations and intentions.
Wilma Pistorius was born in South Africa in 1991 and started playing cello at age four. From an early age, she developed a vivid musical imagination, which she brought with her to the Netherlands in 2004.
She studied composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Wim Henderickx and Jorrit Tamminga, graduating in 2013. At the same time, she earned a bachelor’s degree in cello at Codarts Rotterdam with Jeroen den Herder, graduating cum laude in 2014. She now lives in Amsterdam, where she works, performs, and teaches.
Wilma describes her music as “serious, with a wink,” and sees composition as a direct form of communication and a way to challenge both performers and audiences. Her work is often driven by sensory experience and internal response, translated into sound colors and textures with a playful, sometimes synesthetic approach.
As a committed feminist, she often weaves themes of gender and emancipation into her work. She also actively explores audience participation, including interactive formats where listeners become part of the experience.
Direction: Wilma Pistorius,
Composition: Wilma Pistorius
Libretto: Maaike Haneveld
Singer: Antje Lohse
Dancer: Xolani Mdluli
Actor: Lucia Zemene
Nieuw Amsterdams Peil:
Double bass: Dario Calderone
Flute: Eline van Esch
Piano: Gerard Bouwhuis
Violin: Heleen Hulst
Clarinet: Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer
Flute: Marieke Franssen
Percussion: Natalia Alvarez-Arenas
Percussion: Niels Meliefste
With the support of: Festival Dag in de Branding, Keep an Eye Foundation, Societé Gavingnies, Stichting Dioraphte & the Municipality of The Hague
Korzo Zaal