Utrecht will be celebrating throughout the summer of 2022: in 1122 the city received city rights and this 900-year jubilee is being exuberantly celebrated under the motto Utrecht 900: City without walls. As part of the festivities, the Utrechts Kamerkoor and the City of Utrecht commissioned me to write a choral work. The text was provided by the choir and written by one of the choir members. It is, quite appropriately, about how the city and the rights and duties of its citizenry developed into modern Utrecht society. From Guilds to City Council, from Bishop to Civic Forums – I have made a ballad of this political epic, a Ballad: Rightly Utrecht, for mixed choir SATB. Led by their conductor Bauwien van der Meer, the Utrechts Kamerkoor will sing the piece in a programme featuring Utrecht composers such as Hendrik Andriessen, Jetse Bremer and Monique Krüs.
This is the series of concerts:
- Sunday 18 September in the afternoon in Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd (Koningslaan 9, 3981 HD Bunnik);
- Saturday 24 September in the morning (11:00) Amerpoort Residence (Prinses Margrietstraat 116, 3554 GJ Utrecht)
- Saturday afternoon (5 November), Museum Speelklok (two or three performances) (Steenweg 6, 3511 JP Utrecht)
- Sunday 27 November, evening in Theater Kikker (Ganzenmarkt 14, 3512 GD Utrecht).