Le Villi & Silenzio – Biographies

Sílvia Sequeira

Anna
Soprano

Sílvia Sequeira was the winner of the 2024 CICLO Lousada competition. In April the same year, she won first prize and the audience award at the Cascais Opera Competition in Portugal. She also won third prize, the Wagner Prize and the audience award at the ‘Concurso Tenor Viña’ in Barcelona. In 2024, she made her debut as Matilde in Alexandre Delgado’s Felizmente há Luar, and she made her debut as soprano soloist II in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. She also collaborated in Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem and participated in the Festival der Jungen Stimmen in Sigriswil.

She was invited to several concerts in Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Croatia and Slovenia. In December 2023, she made her debut as Suor Angélica in the Netherlands. In September that year, she debuted as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) in Portugal at the Óbidos Opera Festival. In May 2023, she performed the titlerole of Maria Stuarda in a production by De Nationale Opera in the Netherlands.

She won the Klara Audience Award at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, she was the winner of ARIA, won second prize – for best dramatic voice – and the Audience Award at the Ebe Stignani Competition, third prize in the Vinceró Competition, the Audience Award in the CICLO Lousada Competition and several Audience Awards at the IVC in 2022.

In 2021, she won second prize in the Portuguese Rotary Foundation’s competition. That summer, she first performed the role of Micaëla from George Bizet’s opera Carmen in Weikersheim, Germany, conducted by Elijah Grandy. She made her international debut in 2019 with Pietro Mascagni’s opera Zanetto, in which she sang the role of Silvia at the Maastricht Conservatory.

Denzil Delaere

Roberto
Tenor

Denzil Delaere graduated from the Royal Conservatory in Ghent in 2013, where he studied singing with Marcos Pujol and Gidon Saks, among others, and where he was awarded the Soloist Prize. He continued his training at the International Opera Academy (IOA) in Ghent with Guy Joosten but at the same time joined the prestigious Muziekkapel Koningin Elisabeth.

He has since played various opera roles, including Goro (Madama Butterfly) and Narraboth (Salome) with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Alfredo (La Traviata) at the Summer Opera Festival at Alden-Biesen, Wirt (Der Rosenkavalier), directed by Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz, Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Borsa (Rigoletto), Bardolfo (Falstaff) and Antinoos in Hadrian, an opera by Rufus Wainwright, which was performed at deSingel, Bozar Brussels and Tivoli Vredeburg Utrecht, together with the Brussels Philharmonic.

He sang at Lucerne Opera, Grand Théâtre in Geneva, La Monnaie in Brussels, Opéra National de Montpellier and Opéra Royal de Wallonie. In addition, he worked with renowned conductors such as Alain Altinoglu, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Andrew Greenwood, Korneel Bernolet and Markus Stenz.

Also worth mentioning are the role debuts he played at the Nederlandse Reisopera as Rodolfo in the pocket version of Puccini’s La Bohème and as Hans in the Dutch-language version of Smetana’s Verkochte bruid.

Denzil also worked with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Hilversum), the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and with Franz Schreker at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam during the Saturday Matinee, among others.

He shares his great affinity for the concerto and oratorio repertoire from an early age with ‘La Chapelle Sauvage’ of which he is a co-founder. The Ensemble focuses on performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio,
Magnificat, Kaffeekantate and Missa Brevis, among others.

20th-century and contemporary composers including Olivier Messiaen, Alban Berg, Wolfgang Rihm, John Cage and Belgians Wim Henderickx, Benjamien Lycke (in whose world creation Acubens Denzil Delaere sang a leading role) and Joris Blanckaert, among many others, also enjoy his interest.

denzildelaere.com

Ivan Thirion

Guglielmo
Baritone

Ivan Thirion received his vocal training at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He then studied with Gilles Cachemaille at the Geneva Conservatory and at the CNIPAL in Marseille. After that he was admitted to the Zurich Opera Studio. His talent was particularly rewarded when the Salzburg Festival hired him for their YOUNG SINGERS PROJECT.

His career took off. Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège (ORW-Liège) invited him to sing the role of Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), after which several productions with the same company followed. During the current 2024-2025 season, Ivan Thirion also performs at ORW-Liège, as Don Pedro de Hinoyosa in Offenbach’s La Périchole and as Albert in Massenet’s Werther.

Other recent engagements include: Rodrigo, Marchese di Posa in Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Heidenheim Opera Festival, Bode and 2nd sailor in Tsar Saltan (Rimski-Korsakow) at Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, Matteo in the creation of the French-language version of Christian Jost’s Voyage vers l’espoir (original title Reise der Hoffnung) at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva, Somarone in several productions of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict at the opera houses of Cologne, Genoa and Lyon, and Ramiro (L’heure espagnole) and Le Chaten L’Horloge (L’Enfant et les sortilèges) at the opera houses of Avignon and Tours. Ivan previously sang roles with Opera Zuid, in the operas Fantasio and Werther.

Ivan Thirion is laureate of the ‘Hans Gabor Belvédère International Singing Competition’ (Amsterdam, 2013). He received the second prize at the sixth edition of the ‘International Opera Competition St-Petersburg’ and was a finalist of the twenty-sixth ‘Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers at the Houston Grand Opera’ (2014).

In June 2017, he had the honour of representing Belgium at the prestigious competition ‘BBC, Cardiff Singer of the world” The first Belgian in thirty years to reach the final rounds of this authoritative singing competition.

Jolanda Bazzi

Dance

Jolanda Bazzi is a 2021 graduate of the Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Tilburg, performing contemporary Urban.

She has had the opportunity to do wonderful projects. For instance, she got to dance in Greece for the theatre production Metamorphosea and was scouted there to dance a duet in Ireland. She has also worked with Diego Sinniger, Alexandra Waierstall and Denden Karadeniz, among others.

Jolanda enjoys varied projects and styles. She has had the opportunity to perform in several operas at home and abroad, including Opera’s of the year Lady in The Dark by Opera Zuid and Doctor Atomic in Utrecht. Jolanda is currently working at the theatre company Corpo Maquina. Besides performing, she also derives great pleasure from teaching Floorwork classes with acrobatics, judging at dance competitions and choreographing gymnastic exercises.

Joy Brueren

Dance

Joy Brueren is a dancer-in-training with a curious and open approach to the dance profession. She started her education in Venlo at ArtEZ’s pre-training programme, where she took her first steps as a dancer under the guidance of Myrthe van Opstal and Liesbeth Wiertz, among others.

After completing preliminary training, Joy moved on to the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen. Here she is now further developing into a performing dancer, focusing on both technique and personal expression.

In her early career, she has already collaborated with choreographer Christina Martinez and the company DE LooPERS. Her next project is this collaboration with Opera Zuid, in Le Villi & Silenzio.

Benjamin Herder

Dance

Benjamin Adriaan Herder started his dance training at the amateur dance school Studio26 in Velp. At the age of 16, he left for Scotland for a three-year professional dance course at Ballet West Scotland. Here he obtained his BA in Dance.

His professional dance career began with Isabelle Beernaert’s dance company. Here, he has danced in the dance theatre productions NuDa Veritas, Oxytocin and Particles of God.

Besides his passion for culture and dance, he also has a keen interest in nature and the environment. For this reason, while working for Isabelle Beernaert, he studied Environmental Natural Sciences at the Open University. This eventually culminated in obtaining his BSc Environmental Natural Sciences.

Alice de Maio

Dance

Born in a small town is southern Italy, Alice began dancing at the age of 5. In 2016, she moved to the Netherlands to start her professional training at Codarts University of the Arts, were she studied a wide range of disciplines including ballet, contemporary, theatre and music.

After graduating in 2019, Alice has performed extensively across Europe, collaborating with various choreographers and directors such as William Cardoso, Alexis Blake, Zino Schat, Samir Calixto, Maura Morales and more. Her touring experience includes performances in renowned venues such as Korzo Theatre in Den Haag, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, KW Institute in Berlin, Kunsthaus Zurich, and Opera Zuid in Maastricht.

With a strong foundation in physical expression, Alice continues to explore the intersections of emotion, form, and stage presence.

Since 2024, Alice has also been developing her own brand of handmade bags, crafted from recycled materials. This project extends her artistic expression into the realm of sustainable design,
combining her passion for craftsmanship with a commitment to conscious creativity.

Bo Nijssen

Dance

Bo Nijssen is a 23-year-old dancer and performance artist from the Netherlands. She is currently in her final year of the Expanded Contemporary Dance course at the Amsterdam School of the Arts. Her passion lies in storytelling through movement, where emotion and narrative come together in the physical body. Although trained in classical and modern dance, Bo now focuses mainly on physical theatre, contemporary dance and improvisation. She weaves different styles – ballet, modern dance, hip-hop, house, flying low and jazz – into a dynamic and fluid movement form.

In recent years, Bo had the opportunity to work with inspiring choreographers such as Horácio Macuacua, Saido Lehlouh, Elisa Zuppini, Andreas Hannes and Liat Waysbort.

Alongside her performing work, she is actively engaged in artistic research, exploring the intersections between dance and other disciplines such as music, voice, film, writing and visual art. Bo’s journey as a dancer is one of constant discovery – a search for ways to unite diverse influences into an expressive and coherent form. Through her work, she aims to harness the power of the body to tell stories, evoke emotions and create connections that transcend social and cultural boundaries.

Tom van de Ven

Dance

Born on 9 March 1995 in the Netherlands, Tom van de Ven is a versatile artist and professionally active within arts management. At 1.89 metres tall, he has a deep connection to the performing arts, which drives his creative journey.

In his professional career, Tom worked as a soloist at Tanz Luzerner Theater from 2016 to 2020, where he captivated audiences with various performances. Since 2020, he joined Aterballetto Fondazione Nazionale della Danza as a dancer, where he continues to enrich himself and the dance world. In the eventful year 2023, Tom embarked on an exciting creative journey with Greek National Opera, where he reinterpreted and restructured choreographic work by Diego Tortelli, and assisted Philip Kratz in a new creation at Tanz Mainz.

Tom’s educational background shows dedication. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts from Codarts, School of the Arts, and also completed the Preliminary Dance course at Fontys School of the Arts. His hunger for knowledge led him to pursue a Master’s degree in Arts & Culture Management at Rome Business School/VUI, which he completed in 2022.

Tom’s talent as a dancer is evident from his impressive body of work. He has showcased his skills in a variety of choreographies and collaborated with renowned artists such as Ohad Naharin, Marcos Morau, Johan Inger, Jiří Kylián, Felix Landerer and others.

Rolf Kuijpers

Dance

Rolf began his dance training at the age of seven at the Boys Action preparatory course in Groesbeek. He then progressed to the selection track at ArtEZ in Arnhem, where he studied until the age of 20. In 2023, he obtained his Bachelor of Dance Education at ArtEZ, building a strong technical foundation in Jazz, Ballet, the Limón technique and floorwork. In his final year, he completed two internships: one at Zero Dance Theatre, a dance company led by Denden Karadeniz that combines modern dance techniques with urban elements, and the other at Opera Zuid for the opera Orphée aux Enfers.

After his studies, Rolf focused on honing his teaching skills at Boys Action, where he integrates breakdance, floorwork, modern dance and acrobatics into his classes and creative practice. Besides his work as a teacher, he also works as a freelance dancer. He recently performed in Zero Dance Theatre’s Oasis. He is currently an understudy on the tour of Le Villi & Silenzio.

Karel Deseure

Musical direction

The Belgian conductor Karel Deseure is known for his passionate approach, interpretative flair, and artistic versatility.

In recent seasons, he has appeared with orchestras such as the Liverpool Philharmonic, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, l’Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, l’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Dutch National Ballet, the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, l’Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, the Belgian National Orchestra, the North Netherlands Orchestra, and Phion.

He is also highly active as an opera conductor. He has conducted productions at, among others, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (Der Silbersee and Les Pêcheurs de Perles), the Dutch National Touring Opera (Hänsel und Gretel), l’Opéra de Toulon (Così fan tutte), and Opera Zuid (La Bohème, Un Ballo in Maschera, A Quiet Place, A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

Next season, he returns to Opera Ballet Vlaanderen for the ballet production Rites (featuring Le Sacre du Printemps and La Valse, among others). He also makes his debut with Manchester Camerata and Opera North, and returns to, among others, l’Orchestre National de Cannes and Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam.

In 2012, Deseure was awarded the Conducting Prize of the Anton Kersjes Fund, and in 2018 he received the Schaunard Award for the opera productions he conducted in the Netherlands that year.

He studied flute at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. He took part in masterclasses with Bernard Haitink, Peter Eötvös, and Jorma Panula.

Since 2019, he has also been a teacher in orchestral conducting at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

http://kareldeseure.com

Dreya Weber

Director & choreographer

Dreya is an actress, writer, producer, director and aerialist. She produced and starred in The Gymnast, The Aerialist and A Marine Story, which received 48 film festival awards. Her stage work includes Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Lady in the Dark with Opera Zuid, Fellini and Divina Commedia at NNT (now NITE) directed by Ola Mafaalani, and Comedy of Tenors, The Cocoanuts, As You Like It and Comedy of Errors at the Public Theatre in New York.

Dreya’s aerial choreography can be seen in Magic Mike Live in London, Las Vegas, and soon New York. She conceived and created P!NK’s aerial performance of Glitter in the Air at the Grammy’s, as well as aerials for international tours including Taylor Swift, P!NK, Madonna, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Michael Jackson and Cher. Her solo show Hexen; an Ancestral Witch Play, recently premiered in Los Angeles.

 

Karmit Fadael

Composition & text (Silenzio)

Karmit Fadael’s music can be described as intense and uneasily sonorous, controlled on the verge of a fatal explosion. Elaborate, minimalist playing with a few instruments and single notes that seem to become music almost by accident in the chamber pieces.

Karmit is a Dutch-Israeli composer, grew up in the Netherlands and her musical basis is the violin. In secondary school, she started composing by chance. This was followed by studies at the Hague Conservatory with Caliope Tsoupaki, Guus Janssen and Martijn Padding. Already during her studies, she attracted attention with short, internalised works for ensemble and symphonic settings. She has since written for many symphonic orchestras and chamber music ensembles. She also received coaching from Hans Abrahamsen, among others.

‘As a person, I am emotional, opinionated, rational but also calm. You can recognise these traits in my music. In my work, I try to work intensively with musicians. In this way, I hope to enchant audiences with the power of my notes.’

In her music, she searches for many kinds of sound combinations through melodies, harmonies and structures. In which she likes to combine ‘old’ techniques with ‘new’ elements. She is also a great lover of overtones and non-Western scales. During her studies, she wrote for various ensembles and received master classes from Michael Pisaro, Kate Moore, Mary Oliver, Geza Szilvay (founder of the ‘Colourstrings’ violin method), among others. She participated on violin in the Dutch Impro Academy and played in the Young Metropole (project orchestra NJO: Muziekzomer). In 2018, she unanimously won the ‘Tromp Composition Competition’. Then, in 2022, she was awarded the ‘Friesche Emmy’ and in 2023 she received ‘the Golden Violin’ as the youngest winner ever. In 2021, she was the very first recipient of the stipend: ‘Young Composer’ of the Friends of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also received commissions from the NTR:Zaterdagmatinee, The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Residentie Orkest, Amsterdam Sinfonietta/the Cello Biennale, Gaudeamus and November Music, among others. Her works are performed all over the world. Including such prominent venues in the Netherlands as the Concertgebouw, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ and TivoliVredenburg.

http://www.karmitfadael.com

Rick van Veldhuizen

Text (Silenzio)

Rick van Veldhuizen (he/him, 1994) is a composer, writer and lyricist. His music and lyrics mix all kinds of different influences and cannot be captured in one genre or language. Even in his student days, he showed a great fascination for storytelling in music and lyrics. These stories often deal with the most intimate and darkest sides of life. Sexuality, derailment and decay are recurring themes in his work.

In 2016, Van Veldhuizen graduated cum laude from the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Joël Bons and Willem Jeths. He also completed a bachelor’s degree in Dutch Language and Culture at Leiden University that year. In 2017 and 2018, he took lessons in pure intonation and microtonality with Marc Sabat in Berlin, which have left their mark on his music. He also took guest lessons with Olga Neuwirth and Carola Bauckholt, among others.

Since then, he has been commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (mais le corps taché d’ombres), the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra (Ausschweifungen), De Nationale Opera, Ensemble Intercontemporain and Amsterdam Sinfonietta, among others, and has collaborated with leading soloists such as Lucie Horsch, Katharine Dain, Shane van Neerden and Polly Leech.

Bretta Gerecke

Set- & lightning design

Bretta Gerecke is a set, costume, and lighting designer for theatre, circus, and opera. She is the resident designer at Catalyst Theatre (Canada), where she co-creates new work and tours across North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia. She designs for Cirque du Soleil, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre, The Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Birmingham Rep, Edmonton Opera, Calgary Opera, Vancouver Opera, The Citadel Theatre, and The Grand Theatre.
She has received more than twenty-five awards, including Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40, Global Television’s Woman of Vision, IPL Bet Emerging Artist, and nominations for the Lucille Lortel Award. She recently represented Canada at the Scenography Quadrennial in Prague, and her costume designs have been exhibited in Moscow, Beijing, Taipei, the United States, and Canada. In addition to her career as a lighting designer, she is also a marathon runner and archaeological illustrator.

http://bretta-gerecke.com

Marrit van der Burgt

Design costumes, hair & make-up

Marrit van der Burgt’s work is characterised by the application of often unusual, preferably lived-in materials, and the exuberant, or conversely subtle use of colours on stage or in front of the camera. In her work, she is most powerful when, in collaboration with the director, she can improvise on the spot, (after thorough preparation) so that the director has optimal freedom to use his creativity.

After completing the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (direction Fashion/Monumental), she started her career in the costume atelier of the Nederlands Dans Theater. She then became head of the costume atelier and designer at Toneelgroep de Appel. After de Appel, Marrit was the regular costume designer of film director and installation, opera, and theatre maker Peter Greenaway for fifteen years.

She also taught at the Artemis Academy Arts in Rotterdam and on the postgraduate year scenography at the Royal Academy of Arts.

She currently works mainly for opera, film, musical and stage, at home and abroad, including with renowned directors and set designers. She has made costumes for Wagner’s Lohengrin at Landestheater Innsbruck with David Prins, Der Bettelstudent with Anatol Preissler at the Volksoper Vienna, Don Giovanni with Frank B. Gottschalk in Odessa (Ukr.) and with Sybrandt van der Werf in Amsterdam (DNOA) and Der Zigeunerbaron with Marc Krone at Cherkassie (Ukr.), among others.

At Opera Zuid, she was previously costume designer for Tsar Saltan with Sybrandt van der Werf, Rusalka with David Prins, Le Nozze di Figaro with Daniel van Klaveren and Orphée aux Enfers with Benjamins Prins.

http://marrit.nl

Joep Hupperetz

Dramaturgy

Joep Hupperetz is a dramaturge and theatre professional, who obtained his Master of Arts in Theatre Studies from the University of Amsterdam in 2021. Already during his studies, he actively gained experience in various fields within the opera and theatre world, including key positions at Opera Zuid, where he worked as second stage assistant and assistant dramaturge. He was also dramaturge and librettist for the production IDIOSYNCRATIC during the Opera Forward Festival, where he demonstrated his ability to shape both classical and contemporary stories.

Highlights of Joep’s career include two seasons (2017-2019) as producer for JONG DeLaMar, as well as his ongoing role as permanent dramaturge at Opera Zuid, which he has joined since 2020. His work there includes celebrated productions such as Kurt Weill’s Lady in the Dark (Winner Opera of the Year 2022, Place de l’Opera), Eternal Road (a liederabend about Kurt Weill for Théâtres de la Ville Luxembourg), and Christopher Gillett’s adaptation of Der Schauspieldirektor (2023), which will be seen at the Buxton International Festival in 2025.

Besides his work at Opera Zuid, Joep has shown his versatility as a dramaturge in various projects, including a new adaptation of Salieri’s Armida at Opera Nijetrijne (2023). This season, he also collaborated on the premiere of Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ (March 2025).

joephupperetz.com

Lauren Poulton

Associate director & choreographer

After graduating from the Central School of Ballet, a world-class centre for professional dance training in London, and after a career as a professional dancer for many years, spanning classical, contemporary and physical theatre, Lauren Poulton has more recently worked as a choreographer and movement director in various productions in the UK and in Europe.

Her most recent works include The Magic Flute (associate director and revival choreographer), Flute Lite (revival director and choreographer), La Rondine (choreographer and assistant director), Falstaff (choreographer, Opera North), The Cunning Little Vixen (associate director and choreographer, Longborough Festival), Die Entführung and Die Fledermaus (choreographer and assistant director, Diva Opera), A Quiet Place (choreographer and assistant director), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (assistant director, Opera Zuid) and Wuthering Heights (choreographer, Opéra National de Lorraine).

Further work as assistant director and revival movement director on A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Malmö Opera), Ariadne auf Naxos and La bohème (Opera North), Spelman Pa Tacket (Malmö Opera), and as restaging choreographer Fiddler on the Roof (Royal Albert Hall BBC Proms performance) and Street Scene (Theater Magdeburg).

She has also choreographed several dance works including Carnival of the Animals in collaboration with Sinfonia Cymru‚ Kneading You and Spanish Suite for Ballet Cymru, Nexus for MYDC. Site specific pieces include Urban Sprawl‚ in collaboration with URRL artists and The Gravity Project.

Lauren continues to work across opera, theatre, dance and film and has become one of the most sought after choreographers of her generation.

Pilo Pilkes

Design hair & make-up

After studying window-dressing at Nimeto in Utrecht and graphic design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, Pilo Pilkes entered theatre. Initially designing and performing costumes, scenery and graphic work. After training with wigmaker Sjoerd Didden, designing and performing hair work and grime were added.

In theatre, he has worked for companies such as De Trust/Theatercompagnie, Tryater, HNT, NNT, Het Toneel Speelt, De Appel, the Venlose Revue, the Passiespelen Tegelen and for the performances Anne and De Stormruiter, among others.
Pilo also works for television. He worked on Wilhelmina and Ramses, on the film Night Ride, Simon and on works by Peter Greenaway.
Previously, he directed baroque musical theatre I Piccoli Hollandesi, and for his own company Plamour, he wrote and directed Naaiatelier de Dekmantel and Het Einde der Meiden.
Moreover, he worked on musicals like Sweeney Todd, De Tweeling and Moeder ik wil bij de Revue. Together with all the creatives of Soldaat van Oranje, Pilo was nominated for the Wijnberg scenography award 2011.
He also teaches hair work/wig making at the Mask course in Amsterdam.
The opera genre is not unknown to Pilo either. He has previously worked for Opera2day, and for Opera Zuid, including on the performances Un ballo in Maschera (2018) and Orphée aux Enfers (2023), for which he did hair & make-up design.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Jori Klomp

Chorus director

Jori Klomp obtained his Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the Utrecht School of the Arts, having previously studied saxophone and solo singing at the Conservatorium in Maastricht. Since 2018, he has been working as a choral conductor and musical director at Theater Aachen, where he is responsible for the opera chorus, symphonic choir, extra chorus, and children’s choir. In addition, he serves as the musical director for various productions, including recent stagings of Purcell’s The Indian Queen and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

In addition, Jori regularly appears as a guest chorus conductor at La Monnaie Opera House in Brussels and at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp. As of the 2025–2026 season, he has been appointed chorus director of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. Previously, Jori worked with Opera Zuid on productions including Werther, A Quiet Place, Die Zauberflöte, Roméo et Juliette, Lady in the Dark, and Orphée aux Enfers.

http://joriklomp.com

Theaterkoor Opera Zuid

Choir

Opera Zuid Theatre Choir is a project choir consisting of a versatile group of singers; from recently graduated talents to experienced choir members who have already worked on several Opera Zuid productions. This permanent core is among the best opera choristers in the South of the Netherlands and is supplemented by young, talented vocal students and young professionals. There is a strong focus on talent development and further development.
In Le Villi, the role of the choir members is not limited to singing alone; a number of them also perform the mysterious Villi on stage.

Kent Moussault

Assistant conductor

The Dutch-Japanese Kent Moussault (1993) is a conductor and composer. He received his bachelor’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, studying under Jac van Steen, René Gulikers, and Kenneth Montgomery. He completed his Master’s in conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with mentors Garry Walker and Martyn Brabbins. Additional guidance came from conductors such as Otto Tausk, Mark Wigglesworth, Johannes Schlaefli, Nicolás Pasquet, Junichi Hirokami, Jan Stulen, and Ulrich Windfuhr. Kent also studied composition at the Conservatory of Amsterdam under Willem Jeths, Joël Bons, and Wim Henderickx.

In 2023, Kent won the first prize at the Call for Conductors Budapest Competition and the Young Conductors Award in Hilversum in 2016. He has also served as an assistant conductor to Otto Tausk, Jac van Steen, and Martyn Brabbins across various European orchestras and to Junichi Hirokami in Japan.

Kent has worked with contemporary composers, having conducted several world premieres with ensembles such as Catchpenny Ensemble, Red Note Ensemble, and Hebrides Ensemble. Also he served as recording session conductor for videogames with Music Engine in Tokyo with which he will tour with the music of Hollow Knight in June 2025.

His opera work includes engagements with the Dutch National Opera Academy (assistant conductor), Music Theatre Hollands Diep Dordrecht (assistant with conducting performances), JKTyl Theatre in Pilsen (takeover performance), and the Nederlandse Reisopera where he conducted nine performances of De Piratenkoningin. In 2023, he jumped in to conduct the Canary Islands premiere of Handel’s oratorio Theodora at the International Bach Festival Gran Canaria.

In 2022, he founded MoussaultArt-Music to further his work as a media composer, creating music for film, TV, and games. He also serves as guest teacher on orchestration for media composers, and soundtracks and SFX in games at the ArtEZ Conservatoire and Utrecht School of Arts. He is actively exploring the integration of multimedia in classical concerts.

https://www.kentmoussault.com

Dorota Nowak

Direction assistent

Dorota Nowak is a dancer, choreographer, and assistant director working across opera and contemporary dance. She has performed at leading venues including the Royal Opera House (Linbury Theatre), Sadler’s Wells, and Amare Theatre, in works by choreographers such as Richard Alston (Altogether), Christopher Bruce (Dancing Days), and Richard Chappell (Vessel). She also took part in the research and development of Akram Khan’s Jungle Book.

In opera, she performed in Orphée aux Enfers (Opera Zuid, 2023), and assisted in the production of Maria de Rudenz (Gothic Opera, London, 2024).

From 2024 to 2025, Dorota was a dancer with B’cause Dance Company in Warsaw, appearing at Teatr Studio in works including Klif (Jakub Mędrzycki), Cicho Ciszej Zgiełk (Bartek Woszczyński), and Unboxing (Ola Komarnicka).

She is the co-founder of the Krakow Contemporary Dance Collective and is currently developing her own choreographic projects, such as Blisko, Bliżej and Re-Invention, as well as interdisciplinary pieces that bring together movement, film, animation, and sound.

Philzuid

Orchestra

We create unforgettable moments of joy for everyone.

This is our mission, our driving force, and what we aim to offer you. Philzuid is an orchestra by and for everyone. We are constantly pushing boundaries, seeking new challenges that move people of all ages – in mind, heart, and soul. From our home bases in Eindhoven and Maastricht, we connect with communities throughout North Brabant, Limburg, and Zeeland and far beyond, both nationally and internationally. Under the leadership of intendant Mette Laugs and chief conductor Duncan Ward, we create unforgettable moments of joy for all. We are the symphony orchestra of the South.

Happiness inspires us
Those who attend our concerts and activities enjoy music and experience deeply emotional moments. Our audiences tell us they feel joy and wonder, moments of inner peace or inspiration, delight or comfort, and happiness. That word happiness, in all its richness, is what inspires us.
Happiness has a positive impact on well-being and life satisfaction. Everyone experiences it in their own way. Music has the power to move, to connect, and to evoke positive emotions. We offer these moments of happiness.

We share happiness by connecting
We are connectors in every sense. We engage with social issues and current events, and maintain a vibrant relationship with society in the southern Netherlands. Above all, we are here for the people of North Brabant, Limburg, and Zeeland. In this region – the largest in the Netherlands, home to more than four million people – we are an essential presence at major public events and festivals. We celebrate and commemorate with beloved traditions such as our Christmas and New Year’s concerts, Vastelaovend and Carnival concerts, and the Liberation concert. Equally important are our collaborations with amateur musicians and rising stars from the conservatoires in Maastricht and Tilburg, through our Orchestra Academy. We also connect with the business community and professional networks through inspiring events like Philinspired and a range of tailor-made programmes for different kinds of partnerships.

Innovation is in our DNA: we are makers of joy
One of Philzuid’s core values is innovation. We are a versatile orchestra, constantly evolving. We are renowned for our large-scale symphonic concerts featuring iconic works, performed in concert halls across the southern Netherlands and beyond. We accompany opera productions throughout the country. But we are also creators. We continually push boundaries and develop new concert formats in unexpected locations. We are proud of our educational programmes. Small ensembles made up of our musicians travel to primary schools to give pupils a live experience of classical music.
Each year, in theatres and concert halls, thousands of pupils from primary, secondary, and special education engage with the full symphony orchestra and actively participate in our performances.

We bring joy and love to surprise
That’s what we stand for. With every concert, every performance, every project, we aim to surprise – and offer a moment of happiness. Surprise is our third core value. Everyone who attends a concert experiences emotional moments. Music strengthens us – mentally, physically, and emotionally.
And how wonderful that the first part of our name sounds like feel. It sparks an endless stream of words capturing the joy people experience through our music: Philgood, Philamazing, Philnice, Philwonderful.

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