Opening Concert — Culture Unlimited Festival 2026

Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing

Kinan Azmeh, Ahmed Aboutaleb & New European Ensemble

17 February 2026
TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht

Tickets: https://www.tivolivredenburg.nl/agenda/18097265/mavericks-migrations-17-02-2026

The opening concert of Culture Unlimited Festival 2026 presents Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing, a powerful interdisciplinary programme bringing together music, poetry, and reflection. At the heart of this edition of the Mavericks series is a unique collaboration between Ahmed Aboutaleb, Kinan Azmeh, and the New European Ensemble.

The New European Ensemble proudly welcomes Ahmed Aboutaleb as a special guest in this production. The former mayor of Rotterdam will read from his poetic work, bringing a distinctive voice of reflection, moral clarity, and human depth to the programme. His texts act as a mirror to the music, inviting the audience to reflect on themes of identity, responsibility, freedom, and belonging — themes that resonate deeply within the broader context of migration and contemporary society.

Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing

Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing brings together artists who, each in their own way, explore the boundaries of perception, imagination, and inner vision. Aboutaleb’s poetry, known for its directness and ethical clarity, opens a reflective space in which listening becomes an act of attention — not only to sound, but to meaning.

The musical core of the programme is formed by the work of Kinan Azmeh, the internationally acclaimed clarinettist and composer whom The New York Times described as “intensely soulful… a virtuoso.” A Grammy Award winner and recipient of the Opus Klassik Award (2019), Azmeh is not only a brilliant musician but also a storyteller and bridge-builder. His music moves fluidly between composition and improvisation, between silence and expression, carrying the emotional weight of exile, memory, and transformation.

At the heart of Azmeh’s contribution lies a profound exploration of migration, identity, resilience, and hope. His compositions unfold as chapters in a larger human narrative — a musical journey from displacement and longing toward dignity and belonging. Azmeh’s music does not merely describe migration; it embodies it. Melodies surface like memories rediscovered, harmonies shimmer like fragile visions of home, and improvisations emerge as acts of resistance against forgetting.

In close dialogue with the New European Ensemble, this music gains new depth and dimension. Together they create a sound world in which East and West meet without translation, where tradition and innovation breathe together, and where personal stories merge into a shared human experience. Migration is presented not as victimhood, but as a source of creativity, strength, and renewal — a force that transforms uprooting into art.

New music & curatorial collaboration

A special highlight of the evening is the world premiere of a new work by Hawar Tawfiq, the Kurdish-Dutch composer acclaimed for his deeply emotional and poetic musical language. In this programme, Tawfiq approaches the theme of blindness not as a limitation, but as an invitation to deeper listening. His composition enriches the thematic fabric of the evening and enters into a subtle dialogue with the works of Kinan Azmeh, expanding the notion of perception beyond sight.

In close collaboration with Gaudeamus and the festival’s curating team, additional artistic contributions were explored. The most realistic and conceptually aligned choice, in keeping with the vision of Culture Unlimited, is a short presentation by oud player and composer Talal Fayad and Oriol Marès, based in Utrecht.

Talal is part of the artistic circle surrounding Oriol Marès, while simultaneously developing a strong and independent compositional practice of his own.

Music on Migration — What Does Hope Sound Like?

Under the broader thematic lens of Music on Migration: What Does Hope Sound Like?, this programme invites the audience to reflect on questions that words alone cannot answer. How does hope sound when one is forced to leave home, carrying the weight of loss? How can music and poetry express grief, longing, resilience, and inner freedom — sometimes raw and urgent, sometimes quiet and contemplative?

Sometimes intense and urgent, sometimes tender and introspective, this music becomes both a carrier of memory and a compass for the future. It invites the audience to listen more deeply — to stories of displacement and perseverance, of sorrow transformed into beauty, and of hope that refuses to disappear. In this concert, sound itself becomes a form of homecoming.

Following the opening concert at TivoliVredenburg on 17 February 2026, Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing will tour Dutch theatres, with performances in Enschede, Tilburg, and The Hague, reaching a broad national audience and significantly expanding the artistic and societal impact of the Culture Unlimited Festival.

Programme

• Ahmed Aboutaleb — Lecture / Poetry
• Hawar Tawfiq — New Work (World Premiere)
• Kinan Azmeh — Essays on Solitude
• Kinan Azmeh — Café Damas
• Kinan Azmeh — The Fence, the Rooftop, the Distant Sea

Performed by:
Kinan Azmeh & New European Ensemble