She Must Establish Himself, De Singel (2025)

"The composer is therefore enjoined to accomplish the following: she must establish himself as a major instrumentalist, he must not wait upon a descending being, and she must become an interpreter, not only of her own music and career, but also the music of her contemporaries, and give a fresh view of the known and unknown classics." — Julius Eastman, ‘The Composer as Weakling’, Ear Magazine (1979)

Borrowing its title from Julius Eastman’s essay ‘The Composer as Weakling’, She Must Establish Himself draws inspiration from Eastman’s musical philosophy. Building on BLISS guest curator Fallon Mayanja’s engagement with his practice, it works with the musician’s experimental approach to composing and constructing. Calling for “establishment” the title seems to propose a goal, while simultaneously being a glitch in itself.

Eastman’s music is known for its gradual construction. Compositions develop slowly through cycles of repetition, with new notes and rhythms incrementally introduced, continuously building up without ever reaching a finalised state. With parts of the building of De Singel undergoing (re)construction, drilling and construction noises blend with the usual auditory backdrop of rehearsal sounds. This current soundscape serves as the point of departure for the performance.

The performance takes place in the Music Studio, set up to echo the atmosphere of a construction site. Adopting processes of repeating, layering and exhausting motifs, it investigates the idea of sonic textures and rhythmic gestures imprinting themselves onto performers and audiences alike. She Must Establish Himself brings together materials from different sources; some collected, others produced on-site. This layering of different source materials creates a distinct soundscape that responds to Eastman’s notion of ‘parallel eclecticism’.

With Bethan Burnside, Daphné Charitos, Maartje Claes, Gustav-Adam Dendooven, Hanna Julia Erdosi, Hector Espuela Pablo, Beatriz Hinojosa Ramirez, Kika Ilegems, Manu Garçia Mpasi, Benjamin Muller, Emilia Naomi Keller, Maria Paola Paulis, Miranda Pastor, Fani Pozidi, Arthur Saint Remy, Mira Slootmaekers, Marie Stalpaert, Flora Vanclooster. Coordination by Laura Herman and Isabel Van Bos, Michiel Vandevelde and Anastasia Tchernokondratenko, Benny Nemer, and Yann Chateigné Tytelman. Thank you to Fallon Mayanja & ‘To the Fullest’ team, Jurgen Techel and Simon De Vos