This is your composer speaking: Kika Sprangers (NL)

Kika Sprangers made a name for herself in the jazz world with her narrative compositions for small and large ensembles. That she does not opt for a standard approach is shown by her pieces for string ensemble Pynarello (the lauded No Man’s Land) and for the Jong Metropole orchestra (a composition assignment linked to winning the Rogier van Otterloo Award in 2021). February 2022 saw the release of her album Mind’s Eye, which was awarded a four-star review by national newspapers Volkskrant and Trouw. Under the auspices of TivoliVredenburg and with support from the Performing Arts Fund, Kika is following a two-year new-maker programme. Her November Music composition assignment she will fulfill with a thirteen-member ensemble including horn player Morris Kliphuis, reed player Mete Erker, trumpeter Alistair Payne, flutist Ketija Ringa Karahona and, as a special guest, the Netherlands’ most adventurous harpist Remy van Kesteren.

The interview will be conducted by Anne La Berge (composer, US/NL).
Anne La Berge’s passion for the extremes in both composed and improvised music has led her to storytelling and sound art as her sources of musical inspiration. Her music gathers the elements on which her reputation is based: ferocious and far-reaching virtuosity, microtonal textures and melodies, and her unique array of percussive flute techniques, all combined with interactive electronic processing and text. She works regularly as an improvisation and live electronics coach worldwide in the context of residencies and coaching and teaches at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.
She performs regularly as a soloist and with the ensemble MAZE and is an member of Splendor Amsterdam, a collective of musicians who have transformed an old bathhouse into a cultural mecca.
The more than 50 releases where she is either a performer or a composer and her published and unpublished compositions can be found on her website, www.annelaberge.com.