Festival Dag in de Branding

Festival Dag in de Branding in The Hague offers an introduction to the latest in contemporary music. Three times a year, the city’s leading music venues, the Residentie Orkest and various ensembles organise this festival full of discoveries at different locations across the city. Today’s makers take centre stage. Meet the composers and chat with the musicians after the show. What fascinates them and how is that reflected in their work?

On the programme you can expect to see established names, but also – and especially –promising young talents, such as the festival’s makers-in-residence. Visit the festival for a cross-section view of what’s happening in music today.

Festival Dag in de Branding is a joint initiative of several cultural organisations in The Hague: Residentie Orkest, Amare, Korzo, Royal Conservatoire, Het Nationale Theater, Paard and the Johan Wagenaar Stichting.

Festival Dag in the Branding offers young makers a unique residency programme. As makers-in-residence they are introduced to a relevant network of partners and offered the opportunity to work on their creative development over the course of several festival editions.

The residency programme consists of a commission for a large work, with several opportunities to test and evaluate parts of their work in the run-up to its premiere. The maker-in-residence is supervised by the festival organisation, coached by external experts and given the opportunity to work with the best musicians and creative artists in the field.

The Dag in de Branding Festival is organised by the Johan Wagenaar Stichting. The Johan Wagenaar Stichting stimulates the development of new music by promoting performance opportunities, curating music awards on behalf of the Municipality of The Hague, and through development trajectories for young makers. Since 2006, the Johan Wagenaar Stichting in collaboration with various partners in the city has organised Festival Dag in de Branding. The Johan Wagenaar Stichting plays a brokerage role in the contemporary music sector: it brings together makers and venues, promotes dialogue and initiates collaborations.

Since its establishment in 1947, the Johan Wagenaar Stichting has initiated a number of music awards, which it curates on behalf of the Municipality of The Hague. The best known of these awards is the Johan Wagenaar Award. As a lifetime achievement award, this has been the only one of its kind in the Netherlands in recent decades. The number and profiles of the various awards have been subject to change over the years. At present, the Johan Wagenaar Stichting curates the following awards:

• Johan Wagenaar Award – in recognition of a composer’s entire oeuvre;
• Kees van Baaren Award – for an exceptional orchestral or music theatre work;
• Willem Pijper Award – for a composition that represents a ‘signal function’;
• Theo Bruins Award – for a person who has made an exceptional contribution to Dutch music. This may include a publicist, a conductor, a performing musician or an organiser.