MATHILDE: explanation of project and first steps

Dear reader, 

At the moment I am in my final year of Masters (Master of Music, Tilburg Conservatory). As always I have big plans for my final recital; I see a role for myself not only as a performer, but as a writer, producer, director, composer/arranger, costume and set designer too. It's an awful lot, I know.

I thought it might be nice to start a blog about my creative process, because:

1. It gives you, the reader, a unique insight into what is happening 'behind the scenes',

2. It provides a place to track my progress and helps me staying sane while I take a huge load of work onto myself.

So now that you know the reasoning behind me starting a blog, I think it is time to tell you about the plans I have for my final recital.

MATHILDE

MATHILDE : an opera about perfection, decay and what it takes to be alive is going to be a fully staged performance, set in a fairy tale world.

Mathilde is the crown princess of the Perfect Kingdom. She has grown up privileged, protected, and convinced that life can—and should—be perfect. But when she loses her health, her father casts her out. Suddenly, the world she knows disappears, and she has to learn how to live in a completely different way. With the help of a variety of curious fantasy creatures, Mathilde begins a journey of self-discovery.

Through this story, I want to question how our society looks at health, mortality, and the idea that we can 'engineer' our lives exactly what we want them to be. We are often encouraged to believe that anything is possible if we work hard enough, yet illness, loss, and mortality remind us that there are things we cannot control.

MATHILDE asks what actually matters when that illusion of control begins to fall away. Rather than seeing vulnerability and limitation as failures, can we discover strength in accepting them? Can we imagine another way of living—one that is more resilient, more forgiving, and more human? And what might become possible when we develop a deeper connection with nature, with ourselves, and with each other?

First steps

For the past couple of months, I have mostly been working on the conceptual side of the project. The story is now more or less finished, but I am struggling with the practical question of how to turn all these ideas into something that actually works on stage. Since it is still unclear where and when my recital will take place, it is difficult to make concrete staging plans.

Although there are still plenty of question marks to solve, I have almost completed a third — and perhaps final? — draft of the script. The repertoire I will sing is pretty much fixed (I am still waiting for my teacher's approval), and I have found some amazing musicians who will be part of the performance (Yay!).

A visual plan is also taking shape. You can find one of the earliest versions down below.

There is still a lot to do, but I feel like the project is finally starting to move from a chaotic idea in my head towards something that could actually exist on a stage. 

What's next?

In the next post, I hope to share with you some of the more practical steps of bringing MATHILDE to life:

• finding a date and location for the recital

• making a rehearsal schedule

• developing a marketing plan

• figuring out funding and the budget

• working on the costume designs

There is still a lot to figure out, and I have a feeling the coming months will be a combination of excitement, creativity, stress, and probably a fair amount of improvisation.

For now, I'm taking it one step at a time. I'll keep you posted!