Moving Strings is an ongoing project that I have been a part of since 2018. It’s a collective of mainly string players that have a background in improvisation and instant composition, and an interest in researching and developing how this combines with movement. 

We are currently presenting our show Gathering Fantasies. The next performances are:

Intro in Situ   9 December  Maastricht

Splendor  10 December  Amsterdam

The group meets regularly to research and explore. Through a combination of practice and discussion we work on an interdisciplinary language and develop compositions and performances.

We were ensemble in residence in Splendor from 2021 to 2023. We were also ensemble in residence for Gaudeamus 2023, where we performed new works especially composed for the group, as well as our own repertoire. 

In 2018 and 2019 we were in residence in the Vogellab, in the Vogelbuurt in Amsterdam Noord. Here we created site specific material as part of a community project and various performances. We’ve also performed in the 4BidGallery, Zaal 100 and Splendor and Gaudeamus festival 2021.

 For me, this group is an important part of exploring and deepening the relationships between your body, your instrument, others (and their instruments) and the surrounding space. It’s also a place for me to explore the connections between my technique, creativity and embodiment.

It's from my activities with Moving Strings that the ideas and work grew for Play As We Are: Somatic Music Practices

 I received a very classical education on the viola, which could be regarded as somewhat one-dimensional in it’s relationship to the body. The focus was to play in a certain way, dominating both the body and instrument to get the sound required. It’s completely normal to have physical pain and it is definitely a topic that gets a lot of attention in the musical community - preventing and treating injuries. 

 From early on in my education I have therefore been increasingly aware of how my body feels and reacts when playing - and this is perhaps the starting point that led me to be so interested in the kind of practice involved in Moving Strings.

Classical playing could perhaps be regarded as a one-way street where the desired sound dictates which movements are made. In Moving Strings we cultivate a more symbiotic relationship where the body and its movements are also the source of the material.

 Since 2019 I have also been studying somatic movement and instant composition with Iris van Peppen and Marisa Grande.