Nightwater premiered in Amsterdam on 12, 13, 14 September. A large-scale performance installation unfolding as a rural dream inside an urban venue, throughout the building of the Muziekgebouw.
What happens when you teleport an industrial irrigation machine from a Greek village into an Amsterdam concert hall? This is what Nightwater explores, the new interdisciplinary production I have been working on together with Yannis Michalopoulos and our team, created exclusively for the Muziekgebouw. With a mix of field recordings, megaphones, diverse speakers, video projections, plastic garden chairs, we are transforming the building into a dazzling installation. Inside, a vibrant realm of live music and electronics emerges, promising an unforgettable experience for all who visit.
Continuing our long-term artistic research on the Greek rural culture — following hybrid works such as ENA ENA and the collective interdisciplinary installation Xirómero/Dryland for the Greek Pavilion at Venice Biennale — I was invited by the Muziekgebouw to compose, direct, shape and feel free to create a rather different experience. Nightwater draws from the themes of our research, while also opening space for new questions about the building itself — which celebrates its 20th anniversary — and our relation to it as visitors.
We team up with Ensemble Klang, The Rest Is Noise, Greek folk, to create a 3-day-long evolving event. During the performance installation, audience can enter in specified slots of 50 people every half an hour.
DAY 1+2– Nightwater X Ensemble Klang – Performance installation (evening)
DAY 2 – Nightwater X The Rest Is Noise (late night)
DAY 3 – Nightwater X At The Public Square (daytime)
Creative Team
Thanasis Deligiannis – concept, direction, composition, sound design & cinematography
Yannis Michalopoulos – concept, dramaturgy & research
Kostas Chaikalis – sound engineer & assistant sound designer
Elia Kalogianni – artistic collaborator on cinematography & installation
Yorgos Kyvernitis – cinematography
Performers
Natasa Tsakiridou – singer
Lina Alatzidou – singer
Alexandros Papageorgopoulos – clarinetist
Ensemble Klang
Saskia Lankhoorn – keyboardist
Peter Harden – electric guitarist
Joey Marijs – percussionist
The Rest Is Noise X Nightwater program features DJs Deena Abdelwahed & Zohar.
I/O Production & Technical Team
Frank van der Weij – project manager
Rania Mavriki – production manager
Gerco van Veenen – technical director
Yan Kelleghan, Ivet Serra, Dimitra Sofroniou, Anastasia Papastefanou – (artistic & production) interns
Info & tickets: Muziekgebouw.nl
Photos by Yorgos Kyvernitis (featured photo), Pinelopi Gerasimou & Elia Kalogianni.
Nightwater is a co-production of the Muziekgebouw Productiehuis and the I/O Foundation, and is presented with the support of Het Cultuurfonds, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Onassis Stegi – Touring Program, HVA International, the Greek Embassy in the Netherlands, Aegean Airlines and The Greek House in Rotterdam.
