The wound is the place where the light can enter you
A theatrical concert based on Rumi
Concerto Copenhagen
Aylin Sezer - Soprano
Hakan Ronas Uyrum - Turkish Ney
Emma Farnell-Watson - Dance and choreography
Rijndert van Woudenberg - Concept and composition
Kenza Koutchoukali - Stage director
Impresario - De Vries Artists
European tour 2027 - 2028
The wound is the place where the light can enter you,
merges the poetic works of the Sufi mystic Rumi from the 13th century with the rich sound of a baroque ensemble, traditional Turkish instruments, percussion and a soprano's voice. Additionally, a dance performance enhances the show by interpreting Rumi's profound words. The production delves into the themes of love, yearning, and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. The character of the music is distinctly lyrical, interspersed with highly virtuosic passages, and moves from echoes of traditional Ottoman music, complete silence, to a grand monumental sound world.
There is a quote from Rumi that could potentially flip most people's thinking:
"The wound is the place where the light can enter you."
A trauma or intense event is not something that holds you back, but rather an opportunity to move towards the light.
Based on this idea, the structure of the performance has been designed to evolve from darkness to light, in the music, in the chosen texts, and in the dance choreography.
Aylin Sezer
Soprano
Soprano Aylin Sezer has performed various roles such as Violetta, Nedda, Pamina, Micaëla, Tatiana, and Nele (in Jan van Gilse’s Thijl, which was nominated for Best Rediscovered Work in 2019 by the International Opera Awards) with various Dutch opera companies, including Dutch Touring Opera, Opera Zuid, and Opera Spanga. Aylin also had the pleasure of singing Pamina in Peter Brook's production of The Magic Flute during its world tour with Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord. In the summer of 2021, Aylin performed at the prestigious Prinsengrachtconcert in Amsterdam with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. During the 2014-2015 season, she was a member of the Young Ensemble of the Flemish Opera, where she sang roles such as Emma (Khovanshchina), Fünfte Magd, Despina, and Zerlina. Aylin has a Turkish father and a Dutch mother. She was born and raised in Istanbul, and she moved to the Netherlands for her conservatory studies. She received her bachelor's degree from the Royal Conservatory and her master's degree from the Dutch National Opera Academy with a distinction for "exceptional artistic quality".
Hakan Ronas Uyrum
Ney
Hakan Ronas Uyrum, born in Amsterdam, fell in love with the sound of the Ney at a very young age. He received Ney lessons in Istanbul with Mustafa Hakan Alvan and in 2015 he was admitted to the conservatory of Rotterdam where he was the student of the legendary Kudsi Erguner. Hakan is considered of being the most talented Ney player of his generation. He is a regular member of the Tevazu Sufi Music Ensemble.
Emma Farnell-Watson
Dance and choreography
Emma’s work spans both screen and stage. Drawing from her own dance career working with notable contemporary companies such as Hofesh Shechter and an extensive range of commercial brands, she has developed her own creative language and voice as a maker. She aspires to create a unique movement language that captives and moves audiences, emotionally and intellectually.
Performance
Emmas career spans over both the contemporary and commercial fields. She has toured internationally with Jasmin Vardimon Company and currently with Hofesh Shechter Company.
She has choreographed for Magnum, Adidas, Marimekko, Burberry, Freya Ridings, Jamie Cullum, Hikaru Utada, Concerto Copenhagen, Canne Film Festival and Marks and Spencer, aswell as assisted on videos for George Ezra, Baby Queen and Sandman Season 2 for Netflix.
She loves to continue working for stage and has made work for English National Ballets Youth Company and Immersive Theatre Company, RIFT.
Kenza Koutchoukali
Stage director
Kenza Koutchoukali is a stage director from the Netherlands creating new opera and contemporary music theatre. In her work Kenza aims to find the Fantastic dimension of reality. Because reality reflects diversity and diversity is the most powerful source of cultural regeneration and artistic innovation.
When directing the new opera All Rise! by composer Jan-Peter de Graaff she discovered the enormous value and joy of working with contemporary music and living composers. She followed a talent trajectory at Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam and Paris, having the opportunity to assist important opera figures, such as Claus Guth, Lotte de Beer and Romeo Castellucci on contemporary productions.
She has worked with composers Anne-Maartje Lemereis, Jan-Peter de Graaff, Leonard Evers, Mathilde Wantenaar and Annelies van Parys on different forms of opera and music theater. Her debut on the main stage of Dutch National Opera was with How Anansi freed the stories of the World (Neo Muyanga, Maarten van Hinte). Together with composer Hannah Eisendle she created the new touring production Elektrische Fische for Wiener Staatsoper. Last season she directed The Four Note Opera by Tom Johnson at the Opera Forward Festival in Amsterdam, which was named the surprise of the festival. Her Bluebeards Castle (Bartók) for Opera Zuid won Operamagazine’s Opera of the Year of 2024 and spoke of a profound humanity
Kenza recently created the new work OUM - A son’s quest for his mother with composer Bushra El-Turk and writer Wajdi Mouawad, which was described as a groundbreaking piece of music theatre that smoked the boundaries between cultures and disciplines.
Instrumentation:
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
Horn
Percussion
Theorbo/Oud
Soprano
Violin
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double bass
Ney
Qanûn
Concerto Copenhagen
For over thirty years, Concerto Copenhagen has embarked on a journey of discovery, exploring music from the Baroque, Viennese Classical, and Early Romantic periods with historical awareness and unwavering commitment. Today, Concerto Copenhagen stands as a leading light in its field, both nationally and internationally. Under the musical direction of Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Concerto Copenhagen combines a methodical approach to historical material with artistic originality and a continual evolution in performance style and delivery. This ensures that the music is brought to life in a process of dynamic renewal and remains relevant to contemporary audiences.
Since its inaugural concerts in 1991, Concerto Copenhagen has released multiple internationally acclaimed albums and participated in hundreds of concerts, opera productions, as well as soundtrack and video productions around the world. With a repertoire that combines more familiar European music with lesser-known works of Scandinavian origin and new music, the orchestra celebrated its 30-year anniversary in 2021 and was subsequently nominated for P2 Artist of the Year 2022.
Instrumentation:
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
Horn
Percussion
Theorbo/Oud
Soprano
Violin
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double bass
Ney
Qanûn