Listening on the Spot

Commissioned by Oranjewoud Festival, composer, musician, and scenographer Elsa van der Linden will launch a site- and moment-specific research project in 2026, titled Listening on the Spot, in which listening takes centre stage. It is designed for the in-between spaces between the stages in the park landscape.

The in-between space is precisely a place not intended as a concert venue. It is a place everyone passes through. The in-between space is always there, and sound is always present. By offering the audience listening frameworks and directions, and adding sounds and compositions to them, a musical interplay unfolds. Sound worlds emerge in which chance also plays a role; depending on the sounds of the here and now and the listener’s perspective, they are different each time.

The location plays an important role as a co-performer. The sounds already present form the starting point of the composition that comes into being on the spot. The spectator/listener also plays a key role: as an active listener, but also as a passerby who, often unconsciously, produces sounds for the audience. In this way, an interaction arises.

Focus op Locatiemuziek