I am part of the Dutch Chamberchoir’s talent development programme, NKK NXT. I contributed to the project in many ways: I’m one of the eight singers, had a share in the concept, wrote new choral music for the choir, designed the marketing material and shared in the marketing tasks.
NKK NXT was tasked with one thing: create the choral performance of the future. For half a year with seven others Sem worked together on the concept. The result is “I Want To Be Like You”, a performance that blurs the line between what is real and fake by envisioning what role technology will have in the future of choral music. For the concept “Alex Inc.” was created, an AI wanting to be human, using the singers of NKK NXT 18/19 to find what it is to be truly human in a series of simulations.
NKK NXT 18/19 performed multiple times, including a sold out three-day concert series in Het Huis Utrecht and multiple festivals. For upcoming dates, check the concerts page.
Photography by Veerle Basitaanssen and Sem Hak.
NESKO 2018 & 2019
Since 2018 I have been the in-house designer for the Dutch Student Chamber Orchestra (NESKO), giving every edition its pronounced theme and its comprehensive materials. This includes posters, flyers, stickers, CD-cases and so forth.
The theme of NESKO 2018 was “full of stories”, 2019’s theme was “Off the beaten track”. Both themes got to have their own unique feel and look, whilst still keeping a continuity through the years.
The Dutch Student Chamber Orchestra is an orchestra which forms yearly from new members to tour The Netherlands and Belgium with classical chamber music.
Staatsgreep
In 2017 together with writer and mezzo-soprano Elea Bekkers I founded “Staatsgreep”, an art collective focussed on radical new art. With Staatsgreep Elea and I want to take modern art out of high-society theatres and operahouses and bring it to the audience instead. By adressing modern issues in a confronting yet accessible way STAATSGREEP makes art part of modern-day society again.
Staatsgreep is currently working on multiple projects. Our most ambitious project is a music-theater piece in three acts called “Zij die Achterbleven”, or “Those who were left behind”. This operatic triptych tells the stories of two individuals who, through each-others fate, lose grip on reality. “Zij die Achterbleven” combines music, theater and dance into one artwork, making it a true gesamtkunstwerk. The first act “De Man die afdreef op de Zee”, or “The man who drifted off at sea”, premièred at my final examn in composition in 2017. Currently work has started on the third act.
In 2018 we launched a clothing line by the name of “Gay Cult” consisting only of second-hand clothing and fabrics and making them into new pieces. The various designed prints, varying from “consume” to “family disappointment”, target the growing consumerism crisis worldwide, while also aiming to shine a light on “cults”, minority groups which by popular media have gained a negative or wrong image such as the LGBT+ community.
NSO – tour video
For the Dutch Student Orchestra (NSO) I made an informative video explaining their renewed tour planning.
USConcert Mahler & Brahms
Two posters designed for the Utrecht Student Orchestra (USConcert).
These two posters portray a different side of Sem’s design work which could be called “fantasy realism”. In this style photo manipulation is order of the day instead of vector design.
These two posters were designed for the USConcert fall tour of 2016, and the spring tour of 2017.
