This week I was in Kraków for a concert that felt like both a culmination and a beginning. The evening marked the official premiere of Piotr Peszat’s And I am standing on stage again — a piece that continues to resonate with me each time I think back on it. Bringing it to life in Kraków, and in the Cricoteka – a museum dedicated to Kantor’s life and work, felt especially meaningful.
It was also a pleasure to perform Thierry De Mey’s Light Music again. Paired together, the two works seemed to speak to one another in unexpected ways. Both reflect on what it means to be a live performer today — responding, cooperating, and sometimes negotiating in real time with a machine. Experiencing that dialogue from the inside, on stage, remains both demanding and deeply rewarding.
(Photos from the concert below. Credits to Mart Grzesiek)
Starting the New Year in Cologne
The first project of the new year brings me back to HfMT Köln, working with the trombone class as part of the Oktett-Reihe. The program brings together a fantastic range of music, including works by Joan Tower, Julia Varga, and Georg Friedrich Haas, alongside a new student piece by Farzan Salsabili.
We’ll present the program on 22 January in the Ventanasaal in Cologne — a strong way to begin the year, and one I’m very much looking forward to.
This weekend, I had the pleasure of performing with the Nadar Ensemble in our home town of Sint-Niklaas. And yes, you read that correctly: me playing Bach? Well… sort of.
For me, a highlight of the evening was performing Simon Steen-Andersen’s fascinating re-staging of Bach’s Ich habe genug. It’s a brilliant, intricate, and surprising piece — always a challenge.
We also premiered Anthony Romaniuk’s new work, Enough (Already), composed especially for us and for this program, fittingly titled “I’ll be Bach.”
The concert featured wonderful solo performances by my colleagues Pieter Matthynssens, Nico Couck, and Anthony Romaniuk. Bravo!
Trombone Octet – Reading Farzan Salsabili’s New Piece
A few days earlier, on 26 November, the trombone class at the HfMT Köln gathered to read through a brand new piece by Farzan Salsabili, a student of Brigitta Muntendorf and Oxana Omelchuk.
Written specifically for this ensemble as part of the Oktett-Reihe project, the piece dives deep into the possibilities of the trombone — full of inventive techniques, written for the instrument in a way that feels natural, idiomatic, and exciting. It was a joy to explore this new work for the first time.
Next Concert – 17 December in Kraków (PL)
The next stop is Kraków, on 17 December at 19:00 in the Cricoteka. I’m both excited and a little daunted: performing two demanding solo works in one evening is always a real challenge.
The program features:
Thierry De Mey – Light Music
Piotr Peszat – And I am standing on stage again(world premiere)
Peszat’s new piece, inspired by the work of the renowned Polish artist Tadeusz Kantor and his Theatre of Death, reimagines the trombone concerto format. It dives into the mechanisms of human memory, weaving references to Kantor’s world into a vivid musical language.
It’s a true honour to be able to premiere this work in the Cricoteka, the museum dedicated to Kantor’s life and art.
Portrait of George Lewis – 27.10, Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln
On a concert put on by ColLAB Cologne, I was asked to play George Lewis’s Oraculum for solo trombone. It’s a powerful piece and I learned a lot about my own instrument through it. Performing as a professor for many of my new colleagues (and a full house!) added another layer to the experience. Hearing the piece live in that space, made every gesture more real – it’s a great piece and it needs an audience.
The concert was part of the festival Composing While Black and Queer, organized by my colleagues Anna Schürmer and Susanne Blumenthal. I was happy to have been a part of a festival that centers these voices.
Concert with MAM – 9.11, Dortmund A few weeks later, I was in Dortmund with MAM, working again with Michael Maierhof. We played a new piece that takes his sound ideas further into the realm of light. It was great to play with new people in the ensemble and to perform in the unusual space of Tresor.West. It’s exciting when a piece feels like it’s evolving in real time, and this one definitely did.
Coming Up
Aix•tent Concert – 20.11, Aachen My student ensemble in Aachen have been preparing a noisy, post-spectral program and been working hard on new techniques. We also had a masterclass with Wolfgang Bender, former violinist with the Kairos Quartet. The program includes music by Catherine Lamb, Julia Wolfe, and James Tenney. The students’ curiosity and energy is very rewarding.
Brigitte Kempen Wettbewerb – 21 & 22.11 I’ll be on the jury for the Brigitte Kempen Wettbewerb, this time for violins. Two days of competition. It’s interesting to participate as an outside perspective — not a string player myself — and I’m looking forward to hearing the different interpretations from the players and being on the other side, just listening and observing.
The first leg of Nadar Ensemble’s September tour is behind us, and what a ride it has been. From heartfelt audience reactions in Utrecht, to the ingenuity of our tech team in Oslo, and the celebrations in Warsaw, these past weeks have shown me again how lucky I am to travel and perform with the amazing Nadars.
Two programs shaped this journey so far: What’s Next and Don’t Leave the Room. Each stop had its own character, its own challenges, and moments that will stay with me for a long time.
Utrecht
The tour began in Utrecht, a city that always feels like a return for me since it was the first European city I ever lived in. Over two nights we presented both What’s Next and Don’t Leave the Room. Elena Evstratova’s performance of Alexander Khubeev’s new work was especially striking—her presence on stage was raw and moving, and the intensity of her reaction afterwards showed how much the piece demanded.
Paul Scully’s sprint motif brought its own drama: running through the city in the rain and then pushing through a late-night run. It turned into a kind of endurance piece of its own. Add to that the warm audience reactions and encouraging reviews, and Utrecht gave us a start that was both challenging and inspiring.
Elena Evstratova in Don’t Leave the Room (Utrecht)
Oslo
After a short pause at home, we regrouped in Oslo for Don’t Leave the Room. Because of visa restrictions linked to the war in Ukraine, Elena was unable to travel. What could have been a devastating setback became one of the most memorable moments of the tour: our tech team projected a life-size image of Elena performing the piece and wove it seamlessly into the staging. It was a brilliant solution to an incredibly frustrating problem—and in an uncanny way, it matched the program’s theme. Don’t Leave the Room deals with censorship, and here was a soloist literally prevented from being present. The result was both practical and deeply symbolic.
Bluer Womb in Oslo
Warsaw
Warsaw brought us back to What’s Next. Heat and late-night sprints tested our stamina, but the city also gave us something to celebrate: Matthew Grouse winning the Gaudeamus Award. This was our first time working with him, and the ensemble felt his recognition was fully deserved. To see a new collaborator honored in this way added a special sense of pride to the trip.
In the bus in Warsaw – Pieter Matthynssens with the great camera work
Matthew Grouse wins the Gaudeamus Prize!
Looking Ahead
The tour now continues with Don’t Leave the Room in Strasbourg and Antwerp, before returning to Leuven with What’s Next. We are all very much looking forward to welcoming Elena back for the Strasbourg performance.
September 30, 20:00 — Musica, Strasbourg (FR)
October 9, 20:00 — De Singel, Antwerp (BE)
October 18, 17:30 — STUK, Leuven (BE)
Strasbourg will be our next chance to bring Don’t Leave the Room to the stage, and it will be especially exciting to have Elena back in person. Antwerp will feel like a home match: we created and rehearsed both programs at De Singel, so bringing them back there carries a special pride. Finally, Leuven will close this leg of the tour with the vibrant energy of What’s Next.
Thomas R. Moore 