“At BUDA, we are laying the initial groundwork for our new performance Close Harmony, which will premiere at Festival Cement 2024 (Den Bosch, Netherlands). Close Harmony is perhaps one of the most challenging vocal styles, yet it has a fussy image. If it doesn’t already evoke references to swing-era groups such as Andrew Sisters and King Sisters, there are associations with ant-sweet soul and gospel or Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence. Yet close harmony can inspire experimentation. The vocal lines are densely intertwined. Hence, we want to seek each other out not only musically, but also physically. Can we also make our musical closeness physical? When does this become too intimate or unsafe?”

King Sisters (NL)

King Sisters consists of sisters Joske, Annelie and Marthe Koning. All three are performing artists in a different disciplines. Joske (1989) is an actress and theatre maker (MA Veenfabriek, BA Toneelacademie Maastricht), Annelie (1992) is a singer and composer (MA Toneelacademie Maastricht, BA Conservatorium ArtEZ Arnhem) and Marthe (1996) a performance artist (BA Toneelacademie Maastricht). They challenge each other from their different disciplines; a musical composition leads to a theatrical play-entry, they integrate music into physical performance and develop their own form of dramaturgy in which musical and content development coincide.