Spring Festival 2026

The Spring Festival opens with a performance in front of the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague. Eight trombonists from the trombone class of Sebastiaan Kemner perform a work by composer Jim van der Steege.

The busy sonic environment of the Nieuwe Kerk and Amare will be infused with two gliding bass trombones, providing a foundation and rhythmic anchor within the simultaneously unfolding polyphonic clouds of six tenor trombones.

Jim van der Steege – Here goes nothing
Trombonists, trombone class of Sebastiaan Kemner

In the opening concert of the Spring Festival 2026 the Nieuwe Kerk will be turned into a living, breathing instrument. From intimate solo performances to collective creation, works explore how sound moves and connects us.

Sacred resonances and fragile gestures: bodies sing, pray, resist, and listen-sometimes alone, sometimes together.

With new work by Changjin Ha, Jorn Prenger, Carlotta van Schwartzenberg, Tanishq Bhat, Alex Blair and Gintarė Valionytė.

Programme
Changjin Ha – Purple Shoes
for violin
Jorn Prenger – Op een vreemde manier
for 3 electric guitars and 2 harps
Carlotta van Schwartzenberg – A String of Fraction
for saxophone, horn and bassoon
Tanishq Bhat – For the Ugliest Angel
for flute
Alex Blair – Magnificat
for choir
Gintarė Valionytė – Bodily functions and malfunctions
for mixed instrumentation 

Voices, voices and more voices – interwoven with the sounds of other instruments. This evening features new compositions created through close collaboration between composers and singers.

With new work by Tiago Geerlings, Clara Montolio Cañete, Ivo Gonçalves Valença Pinto, Tigran Gabilov, Alex Blair, Karolis Dabulskis and Nora de Gier.

Singers: Beatriz Afonso Mendes, Inês Carramão, Kai Sven Detering, Roos van Herrewegen, Despina Kelesidou, Marco Pedreira Marques Ferreira, Carlos Pimentel Ribeiro De Figueiredo, Taymour Sirry, Katrine Sjoboden

Coaches: Aart Strootman and Noa Frenkel

Programme
Clara Montolío Cañete – Tabacaria
for voice, two cellos and fixed media
Nora de Gier – Like Candles
for voice, vibraphone, two violins, two violas and two cellos
Tiago Geerlings – Donna
for piano, tenor and fixed media
Karolis Dabulskis – KφiMrO
for soprano and fixed media
Tigran Gabilov – Zelfspot
for soprano, violin, piano and bass
Alex Blair – Return
for soprano, violin, oboe, bassoon, violoncello and shaker
Ivo Pinto – The Battle of the Year
for tenor, marimba and cello

This concert shifts the focus and places sound under a magnifying glass. Soloists, ensembles and electronics explore how sound changes through looping, amplification and distortion. Unexpected sound sources also find their place within the whole. how sound changes through looping, amplification, and distortion. Electronic augmentation is treated as a means of amplifying performers, extending instruments, revealing hidden details, and opening new ways of listening.

With new work by Nahia Vicente Elordi, Lingyuan Yang, Jim van der Steege, Ilija Maršićević and Virag Anna Virág.

Programme
Nahia Vicente Elordi – Loops
for bike(s)
Lingyuan Yang – LIMIA
for double bass, drum set and electronics
Jim van der Steege – Contralude No. 2
for solo instrument and electronics
Ilija Maršićević – Doux
for tape loop, two electric guitars, bass guitar and organ
Virag Anna Virág – Onderzoek
for voice, piano, saxophone and drums

Who Are You? explores the inner self of the maker. Which part of yourself do you want to highlight, or leave in the shadows? Do you want to reveal a new aspect of yourself, or reinforce an existing image? Who Are You? is an invitation to young composers to present themselves to the public.

Within a four-month trajectory, Kluster5 worked with a small group of composers on developing new pieces. At the core of these works lies the question: Who Are You? Through exercises and coaching sessions, this question was explored. The answers found a place in different shapes and forms: in music, text and objects. Tonight you will not only listen to new music, you will also get to know three composers.

With new work by Tobias Alvarez Di Desidero, Gintarė Valionytė and Changjin Ha.

Programme
Gintarė Valionytė – Saulė Nemiega (the sun does not sleep)
Tobias Alvarez Di Desidero – Inner Geographies
Changjin Ha – Mosaic Star Frankenstein

Kaleidoscope invites you into a world of echoes and subtle distortions. Works are all built from single instruments grouped together, multiplying and refracting the sound. Time is stretched inward by a piano, harps and scordatura guitars explore the traditions of music. Even text is fractured and repeated, throughout the concert mimicry is transformation and sameness is plurality. Find yourself where small differences make entire worlds.

With new work by John Galik, Cory Latkovich, Gustav Spoormaker and Changjin Ha.

Programme
John Galik – What Time is This?
for piano
Cory Latkovich – 16 Readings of the Same Text
for harp quartet
Gustav Spoormaker – "ls - ells - ceelells (cells)
for scordatura guitar quartet
Changjin Ha – Sandfly on a Sleepy Wooden Doll
for saxophone quintet

Each year, composition students from the Royal Conservatoire The Hague collaborate with students from the Royal Academy of Art The Hague on new cross-disciplinary projects. In this collaboration, they explore the boundaries of music, sound, image and technology. For the Spring Festival, they present works in which sound and visual elements come together. Students explore how intangible elements such as music, sound and image can relate to tangible objects and installations. The collaboration between the Royal Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Art produces surprising and experimental projects every year.

Participating students
KABK: Alease Hansen-Evelyn, Auke Rothfusz, Dim de Vries, Indra Rieswijk, Eden Roding, Martha Barbara Jesus, Robin Bollé, Daniella Danielsenm, Ingrid Costan, Yade Hollander, Adrianna Wojtyłowicz, MinJae Kim, Nolan Razban, Cat Carrilho Campos Graafmans, Aila Krone, Adriana Zolho, Anabel Vasquez Cedre, Luka Boduljak, Yan Abadiev

KC: Jorn Prenger, Floris Ballegooijen, Jeyana Morozenko, Carlotta Schwartzenberg, David Richter, Emma Parisi, Archie Tulk, Fru Bodnar

Signal constellations focus on the electroacoustic, streams of sounds that intersect and interfere. Analog modular synthesis, digital processes, and live performers collide into oneconstellation. From the KHZ Kollektiv’s shared music making, to intimate MIDI controllers, and the hybrid sound of sax and electronics, there are many unique ways of tracing sound. This concert takes you to a shared space and an evolving landscape.

Programme
Ieva Raubyte – Decalco Study
for KHZ Kollektiv modular ensemble
composed to mark 200 years Royal Conservatoire and featured on the Spring Festival poster

Ieva Raubyte – s n s
for two MIDI controllers and tape

Nicholas Speda – with-in/with-out
for saxophone and electronics

The festival ensemble Ensemble Royaal takes on a new form each year around a central work by a guest composer. This year, the focus is a newly written piece by Jan van de Putte: Invisible, composed especially for this evening.

The core of the ensemble is formed by students from the Contemporary Ensemble Academy of the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. For this concert, the group is expanded with musicians from several departments of the conservatoire, creating a large and colourful ensemble.

Alongside Invisible, four new student compositions will be performed in a variety of instrumental settings. These works receive their premieres this evening and highlight the diversity of the Composition Department. 

Featuring new works by Thijmen Krijgsman, John Galik, Tanishq Bhat, Karolis Dabulskis and Jan van de Putte.

Programme
Jan van de Putte – Invisible
Thijmen Krijgsman – Car je est un autre
Karolis Dabulskis – Gondolas Capsize – Gondolas want to be Spinning Tops
Tanishq Bhat – Theresa
John Galik – Suddenly, then all at once