Composer Myrtó Nizami new maker-in-residence
The Greek composer Myrtó Nizami can call herself the new maker-in-residence of Festival Dag in de Branding. The festival issued an open call in 2023 and Nizami impressed the committee with a well-thought-out plan. Nizami will introduce herself to the public during the next edition of the festival on March 15, 2024 in Amare. Her trajectory runs until June 2025
About Myrtó Nizami
Myrtó Nizami (Greece, 1994) is a composer and pianist. She obtained her master’s degree in composition in 2020 at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, with Calliope Tsoupaki and Guus Janssen. Myrto has lived in the Netherlands for four years now and an important goal of her residency at Festival Dag in de Branding is to expand her professional network and introduce the Dutch public to her work. She also hopes to gain a lot of experience at the festival with aspects such as sound design, scenography and theatrical design.
During her residency she is working on a chamber opera. An important source of inspiration is the poem Sonnet VIII by Fernando Pessoa, about the different ‘personas’ that a person can adopt. What is a mask and what is real? What identity do you assume? What is the core and how do you know you are there? Nizami wants to develop the idea of deconstruction and “peeling” in a music theater work for singer, ensemble and electronics. With this line-up she can achieve multiple layers and mirror effects in her music. Myrtó collaborates with Ensemble Modelo62 and the Dutch-Cypriot soprano Kristia Michael, who made a huge impression in June 2023 with her solo program in Festival Dag in de Branding.
About the maker-in-residence trajectory
Festival Dag in de Branding offers young makers a unique two-year trajectory as makers-in-residence. They work towards a major presentation at the end of the two years and have several opportunities during previous festival editions to present parts of the work to the public and to evaluate. The maker is guided by the festival organization, coached by external experts and can work with the best musicians and creative artists in the field. Composer Guzmán Calzada Llorente is currently in the final phase of this residency at the festival and will present his final work in June 2024. Previous makers-in-residence include Thomas van Dun, Julian Maple-Oliveira and Meriç Artaç.
Caroline Bakker, director of Festival Dag in de Branding: “I am extremely proud of the program that we have been organizing for young makers for a number of years. There is room to experiment and apply what you have learned in subsequent projects. The highly involved audience of Festival Dag in de Branding builds a bond with our young makers and also provides feedback themselves. It is great to see how the makers-in-residence are making progress with specific coaching and guidance.”
Gone in No Time by Myrtó Nizami, performed by Beste Yildiz on cello, can be seen in Amare on March 15. Buy tickets here.