Ga je Mee Naar Buiten (2014)
Live performance for kazoo, bass and slide projector, duration 20 minutes.
"Ga je mee naar buiten" is a musical work based upon sessions with a Dutch aphasia choir practicing the method of SMTA (speech and music therapy for aphasia). I worked with the aphasia choir every week for a period of four month and was allowed to make audio recordings of the sessions. The audio recordings formed the basis for the work, in which I edit the recording down to text, spoken word and song of what happened in one session’s duration: 6’37”. As I was working with this, I realized that the text and speech mainly came from the music therapist working with the choir: she was very dominating in her manner of encouragement to get the choir members to speak. I was fascinated by this domination of speech and questioned who ‘owns’ the right way of speaking. Therefore, the text was translated into musical notation based upon the rhythms that are already inherent in language; this became the live performance for kazoo, bass and slide projector. I wanted to break down, by turning it to music, the domination of the one who has the ability to speak.
