A Journey of Artistic Discovery Across Europe
ULYSSES CO-COMMISSION – Alexander Khubeev
Organised by Gaudeamus, Ultima, Netherlands - Norway
Two members of the Platform, Gaudeamus and Ultima, are commissioning composer Alexander Khubeev, winner of the Gaudeamus Award 2015.
At Gaudeamus 2025
The iconic poem “Don’t Leave The Room” from 1969 by Russian poet Joseph Brodsky has lost none of its topicality today. For the Flemish Nadar Ensemble, it forms the starting point for an interdisciplinary performance about censorship, silence or speaking out, in dystopias that feel uncomfortably current.
Alexander Khubeev ‘voices’ Brodsky’s poem about censorship, a pandemic and activism using sign language. Golnaz Shariatzadeh, nominated for the Award this year, combines music and animation in Blue Womb, a haunting work about the loss of hope in a post-apocalyptic city. In The Chorus by Abbas Kiarostami, an old man struggles with his hearing as an excuse not to have to listen to the younger generation. And Galina Ustvolskaya’s intense Piano Sonata 6 was revolutionary music that was not allowed to be heard in the USSR.
DATE: September 12, 2025
PROGRAMME
Abbas Kiarostami – The Chorus
Galina Ustvolskaya – Piano Sonata 6
Golnaz Shariatzadeh – Blue Womb
Alexander Khubeev – Don’t leave the room
PERFORMERS
Marieke Berendsen – viola
Nico Couck – e-guitar
Elena Evstratova – solo performer
Katrien Gaelens – flute
Yves Goemaere – percussion
Wannes Gonnissen – sound
Pieter Matthynssens – cello
Elisa Medinilla – piano
Thomas Moore – trombone
Steven Reymer – video and lighting
Dries Tack – clarinette
