I have missed you forever
Dutch National Opera & Asko|Schönberg // 2022
concept and creation Lisenka Heijboer Castañón, Manoj Kamps, Antonio Cuenca Ruiz, Sarah Sluimer, Pete Harden, Carmen Schabracq, Hendrik Walther, Eddy van der Laan
text Sarah Sluimer, Esther Mugambi, Alma Mathijsen, Romana Vrede, Olivier Willemsen
music Ethan Braun, Rick van Veldhuizen, Sarah Hennies, Lingbo Ma, Stephanie Pan
stage director Lisenka Heijboer Castañón
musical director Manoj Kamps
costume and mask design Carmen Schabracq
set design Atelier Clement
light design Hendrik Walther
dramaturgy Antonio Cuenca Ruiz
music dramaturgy Pete Harden
text dramaturgy Sarah Sluimer
cast Chloë Abbott, Marc Alberto, Berima Amo, Jonathan Bonny, Katharine Dain, Reinaldo Donoso, Efe Erdem, Aktas Erdogan, Gil Gomes Leal, Manoj Kamps, Yung-Tuan Ku, Luciana Mancini, Esther Mugambi, Wilco Oomkes, Stephanie Pan, Edu Rojas, Maciej Straburzynski, Thora Sveinsdóttir, Cody Takács, Patrick Votrian
‘It’s as if everything that has happened, that is happening and that will ever happen is shown to us all at once. This is confusing and exhausting but also exciting and thrilling.’
Theaterkrant
‘Every collective creation faces dramaturgical challenges — whose stories get cut for the sake of form? If you err on the side of inclusion, you risk ending up with something long and shapeless. Although this happens with I Have Missed You Forever, the work impresses with its polish, professionalism, strong performances and poignant moments.’
Financial Times
‘If there are gods in the world of opera it is the directors. How things can be done differently is proven by the team of I have missed you forever.’
NRC
Faust [working title]
Dutch National Opera // 2020
concept and creation Lisenka Heijboer Castañón, Manoj Kamps, Niels Nuijten, Antonio Cuenca Ruiz, Hendrik Walther, Janne Sterke and Akim Moiseenkov
compositions and arrangements Meriç Artaç, Lochlan Brown, Ravi Kittappa, Lingbo Ma, Florian Magnus Maier, Grace-Evangeline Mason, Martín Mayo, Marc Migó, Akim Moiseenkov, Vasile Nedea, Thuthuka Sibisi, Rick van Veldhuizen, Maretha van der Walt
stage director Lisenka Heijboer Castañón
musical director Manoj Kamps
set designers Janne Sterke and Hendrik Walther
costume designer Janne Sterke
light and video designer Hendrik Walther
sound designer Akim Moiseenkov
dramaturges Antonio Cuenca Ruiz and Niels Nuijten
chorus master Ching-Lien Wu
children’s chorus master Anaïs de la Morandais
cast Olga Busuioc, Polly Leech, Martin Mkhize, Fang Fang Kong, Alaaedin Baker, Renato Bertolino, Lidiane Moreira, Federica Panariello, Renzo Popolizio, François Vincent, Chorus of Dutch National Opera
Nieuw Amsterdams Kinderkoor and The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
‘A miracle took place at Dutch National Opera, Faust [working title] is a celebration of imagination, sparkling with Felliniesque finesse’
★★★★★ Trouw
‘Faust [working title] is an important contribution to the renewal of the genre of musical theatre: away from the museum right into the middle of social actuality.’
★★★★★ Bachtrack
‘The applause may sound less loud (corona, so no full theatre), but it does sound long and it is genuine. Rightly so, because with “Faust [working title], the Dutch National Opera created a production one can only admire.’
Noordhollands Dagblad
An die Ferne
Operafront & Opera Zuid // 2020
concept and creation Lisenka Heijboer Castañón and Hendrik Walther
dramaturgy Niels Nuijten
performers Michael Wilmering and Daan Boertien
production Anna Huizing
music recording Frerik de Jong
vocal coaching Olivier Lallouette
hair and makeup Roxane Zandijk
language coaching Miriam Kaltenbrunner
‘An die Ferne was artfully and lovingly created, with great attention to detail’
Theaterkrant
Through Movement
Carnegie Hall // 2020
concept and creation Lisenka Heijboer Castañón and Julia Eichten in collaboration with the musicians of Ensemble Connect
lighting designer Christopher Gilmore
performers Leo Sussman, Tamara Winston, Noémi Sallai, Yen-Chen Wu, Wilden Dannenberg, Sae Hashimoto, Gergana Haralampieva, Brian Hong, Jennifer Liu, Suliman Tekalli, Emily Liu, Dana Kelley, Ari Evan, Arlen Hlusko and Ha Young Jung
Vrouwenstemmen
Operafront & Grachtenfestival // 2019
concept and creation Lisenka Heijboer Castañón, Meriç Artaç, Niels Nuijten and Frank Siera
director Lisenka Heijboer Castañón
composer Meriç Artaç
writer Frank Siera
dramaturge Niels Nuijten
musical leader Sja’iesta Badloe
exhibition and costume designer Carmen Schabracq
exhibition Aviya Wyse
lighting designer Hendrik Walther
cast Alexandra Flood, Brigitte van Hagen, Nienke Nasserian, Marieke Reuten, Meriç Artaç, Mara Tieles Cutié, Melina Montes Moretti, Mayuko Takeda.
with special thanks to our volunteers in the chorus Debby, Bijlhout, Mariana Castellanos, Judith van Elten, Henriette Franks, Cobie Groenendijk, Zeynep Günal, Monique Jaminé, Shari Kok-Sey-Tjong, Manuela Korver, Dóra Kótai, Monique de Loos, Ilham Ouajnan, Idalia Reyes and Saskia van der Vlist
‘Vrouwenstemmen is a blissful joined effort of makers and performers, in which everyone and everything seems to have fallen into exactly the right place. The enormous efforts they have undoubtedly made don’t translate into an accumulation, but into quality.’
Theaterkrant
‘It is the interplay of themes, music and performance from which opera, and above all this opera, derives its right to existence. Beyond any activism, pamphletism or lists of demands.’
Theaterkrant
‘the Grachtenfestival chose to program a women themed festival this year in order to celebrate women in the field of classical music but also to draw attention to the inequality that still governs our world. In the opera Vrouwenstemmen this was made painfully clear.’
NRC
Parsifal
Das ewige Weib. Eros und Mythos in Wagners Parsifal
Bochumer Symphoniker // 2019
director Lisenka Heijboer Castañón
conductor Stephen Sloane
video, lighting and set designer Hendrik Walther
dramaturge Niels Nuijten
performers Marina Prudenskaya Kundry, Nadine Lehner, Judith Rosmair, Frank Van Aken, Simon Bailey, Michael Bachtadze, Kay Stiefermann, Thomas Mehnert, Katharina Diegritz, Youjao Tang, Désirée Werlen, Yoonsoo Kil, Theresa Klose, Julie Phan, Pavlína Švestková, Marie Vrbová, Michael Kuča, Dušan Kuchár, Tomáš Badura, Tschechischer Philharmonischer Chor Brno and the Bochumer Symphoniker
International Young Patrons Gala
Dutch National Opera&Ballet // 2019
concept and creation Lisenka Heijboer Castañón and Peter Leung
conductors Ching Lien Wu, Aldert Vermeulen and Matthew Rowe
with work by i.a. Hans van Manen, Ernst Meisner, Monique Wagenmakers, Rudi van Dantzig, Michel van der Aa and Ramsey Nasr
performers dancers from Dutch National Ballet and the Junior Company, singers from the Dutch National Opera chorus and studio, Katia Ledoux, Claron McFadden, Ramsey Nasr, Jamez McCorkle, Dutch Ballet Orchestra and extras from Dutch National Opera
‘a festive evening full of unique performances’
Vogue NL
‘finally a gala with class’
Parool
Over Orpheus
NJO Muziekzomer & Grachtenfestival // 2018
concept and creation Lisenka Heijboer Castañón and Peter Leung
lighting and set designer Hendrik Walther
dramaturge Niels Nuijten
performers Pieter van Loenen and Rik Kaijser
Achter Auftritt
Rewriting Zauberflöte
Operafront // 2018
presented as part of REWRITING ZAUBERFLÖTE
director Lisenka Heijboer Castañón
writer Camille Darby
lighting designer Hendrik Walther
dramaturge Niels Nuijten
performers Alexandra Flood and Daan Boertien
La Voix Humaine
Concertgebouw // 2017
director Lisenka Heijboer Castañón
set and costume designer Vera Selhorst
lighting designer Hendrik Walther
sound designer Stan Verberkt
dramaturge Thomas Lamers
with text by Ramsey Nasr
performers Laetitia Gerards, Ramon van Engelenhoven and Ramsey Nasr
Die Sieben Todsünden
Symphonic Orchestra Con Brio // 2016
director Lisenka Heijboer Castañón
conductor Willem de Bordes
set and costume designer Sarah Nixon
lighting designer Hendrik Walther
dramaturge Thomas Lamers
performers Laetitia Gerards, Jordi Vogelzang, Alexander Brouwer, Nicolas Fransiscus, Joris van Baar, Matthijs Schelvis, Jacques de Faber, Tigran Matinyan
