Alto

A thing of hope, that was the idea. It came mostly from her, Janneke. I think I may have stared at her a little obvious, while she talked. How does one start something, from hope? I have to admit that I never considered it before.

Starting from anger, fear, resentment, shame, no problem. You might say that’s more my forte. I figured I would think about it, maybe it needed some solid overthinking as some things do. But my thoughts turned out to be a bad place for hope to thrive. (and I might have guessed that, but it never hurts to try)

If you can’t stop the thoughts, it’s best to distract them. With music. Long-winding symphonies, hard-edged guitar riffs, who cares as long as it lifts the veil of ratio and let’s you peek behind it.

During countless hours of music in my ears, I may have heard something else. It was soft and gentle, and it may not even have been a sound. Can you hear an image? An idea?

It looked up carefully and curious, as if – at the end of it all – there was something better.

In 2023 I created a body of work in collaboration with the composer Janneke Moes. Our work, titled “A Whisper of Hope” consisted of my work and Janneke’s multiple choir composition. “A Whisper of Hope” was performed on December 9 and 10, 2023 in Zeist and Amersfoort (The Netherlands). You can watch and listen to it here.

“Alto”

30×40 cm, oil on panel