The success of the NKK NXT programme has now more than proved itself: the first three years resulted in compelling and stimulating performances, based on themes and motifs from the lifeworld of the young singers. Pioneering group NKK NXT 17/18 delved into burn-outs among young people, the second batch developed an alarming vision of a post-humanist world in which man and technology increasingly merge. The 19/20 NKK NXT group consisted of nine women who addressed beauty ideals, individualism, and the power of the female voice. Some of the singers choose to continue with the performance even after the trajectory - a number of performances could be seen at several festivals. In addition, cultural partners of the Nederlands Kamerkoor also find their way to this up-and-coming talent, and participants have appeared in varying line-ups in collaborations with Oerol, Gouden Haas, Silbersee and Chantal Acda, among others.
Previous editions NKK NXT
NKK NXT 23/24: Passages
Passages echoes the fleeting encounter between life and death, the past and the present, reality and imagination. It represents a no-man's land where contrasting worlds meet. Passages unfolds an interplay of movement, voice, light, visual arts, electronics, and classical music. As an ongoing performance that cherishes its unfinished state, Passages invites new contributors with each performance.
A versatile cast creates a dialogue between the transience of the performing arts and the enduring nature of the visual arts, where the gaze of the spectator adds the final brushstroke.
Members: Agnese Allegra (Italy), Joanna Ferreira Guiné (Portugal), Vanesa Guinadi (Indonesia), Elaine Hakkaart (Netherlands), Shanice Skinner (Canada), María Suárez López (Spain), Emma Wessleus (Netherlands), Fran van Lysebettens (Belgium)
NKK NXT 22/23: Minaminotori
For NKK NXT, the Nederlands Kamerkoor is collaborating with the Utrecht-based Rosa Ensemble in season 22/23. As part of their traineeship, the young singing talents of NKK NXT will create a special performance as a co-production between the Nederlands Kamerkoor and Rosa Ensemble. The performance Minaminotori named after the remote Japanese coral island Minami-no-Tori-shima where more than 16 million tonnes of rare metals were recently found, is about modern man's search for a new holy grail: rare metals needed for phones, computers and any other 'smart' device with computer chips. In Minamitori, NKK NXT and Rosa ensemble pose questions about human avarice, hubris and self-destruction.
Members: Emily Pahlawan Collinson (UK/Iraq), Olga Grammatikopoulou (Greece), Maria Eichler (Germany/Belgium), Sean Bell (Norway/Scotland), Ishtar Bakhtali (Netherlands/Suriname), Maryana Golovchenko (Ukraine/Netherlands), Iolaysa Braga Tavares (Netherlands/Cape Verde), Alba Roorda Martinez (Netherlands/Spain)
NKK NXT 21/22: Re:quiem
The young talents of the 21/22 batch presented their performance Re:quiem to the public at the end of April. In Re:quiem, the singers break with traditions of remembrance and create a living requiem, an ode to endings as well as new beginnings. In the hands of the seven singing talents, the traditional requiem mass becomes a seven-part exploration of themes of farewell and hope along centuries of music, from Tomas Luís de Victoria to Meredith Monk. With physical and vocal improvisations, they infuse music and performance with new life, seeking new ways in ensemble singing. The requiem becomes not only more human but also recognisable: a search for convictions.
Members: Anna-Julia David (United Kingdom), Marthe Koning (Netherlands), Marie van Luijk (Belgium), Eva Modic (Slovenia), Dean Parker (United Kingdom), Juncai Zhang (China), Christian Beutel (Germany)
NKK NXT 20/21: Wildernis with Wende
With a heart for storytelling and innovation, the Dutch singer, singer-wongwriter and actress Wende fuses music, visual design and stage spectacle into sensual total theatre. Her idiosyncratic ideas and consistent top quality keep raising the bar, making Wende one of the most sensational artists in the Netherlands.
Following her acclaimed performance MENS, Wende will present an all-new show in theatres and clubs across the country next season. In co-production with Toneelgroep Oostpool, and with an (inter)national team of renowned writers and designers, Wende goes in search of the essence of who we are. Restless, passionate and courageous, she explores the great unknown in ourselves and the world beyond. The big life questions that touch us between heart and underbelly, translated into groundbreaking visual musical theatre in a boundary- and genre-shifting theatre concert.
Members: Sebastiaan Ammerlaan (NL), Ruben Grevelink (NL), Julie Hasfjord (NO), Jobbe Hoebink (NL), Phoebe Kirrage (UK), Emma Nelson (UK), Ariel Sin Yu Lee (HK), Jesse van der Wel (NL), Merel Wentink (NL)
NKK NXT 20/21: BLOOM - a Sequence of Gatherings
The fourth year of the Nederlands Kamerkoor's talent development programme, explores the meaning of coming together in their new performance BLOOM - a Sequence of Gatherings. Conceived and developed in a world locked, full of online meetings, averse to physical contact, the performance explores that new art of coming together.
How can we come together while physically removed from each other? NKK NXT 20/21 - Immix [English for blend] developed a groundbreaking performance that pits physical presence against digital distance, in a search for the future of choral music. Performed in a hybrid form, both live in the Paardenkathedraal in Utrecht and online via livestream, the singers construct and deconstruct language, sound and a new reality. The digital world is blended with physical space, reflecting the real world on screen in an endless movement.
NKK NXT 19/20: Stand up & Stand out
How often do you look in the mirror? Do you want to stand out, or do you prefer to blend in with the crowd? And why do so many women pursue the same ideal of beauty? STAAN AND OPALLEN is the new performance by NKK NXT, the talent development programme of the Nederlands Kamerkoor. A performance about female power and the female voice, about blending in and standing out. About a modern age where everyone seems to work in overload by default, but where we look for silence. 9 young singers take up the challenge to create a new performance where the future of ensemble music is central. In a society where everyone carries a pocket-sized digital mirror, NKK NXT holds up a different mirror to both audience and society. STAAN AND OPVALLEN is recognisable, funny, at times painful and above all moving.
NKK NXT 18/19: I want to be like you
Hi. I am Alex. Will you please join me in my simulation? I can learn from you. Will you help me? You see, I hear you. I want to learn the colours of all your moods, to show you are understood. Reach in your pocket and let me embrace you for all you are worth.
Is that wrong?
Eight young singers from NKK NXT were challenged with the question: develop a performance about the future of choral music. With this performance, they present their vision of the future of vocal ensemble music, a concert in which humanity meets technology. What is being human? Can the human voice duet with the artificial? They performed at Podium Witteman, among others.
