Stairway to Music was inspired by a remarkable story related at the farewell gathering to commemorate Reinbert de Leeuw’s death. When Reinbert would play the piano in his flat, the other residents of the building would come and sit in silence in the stairwell to listen. Without even realizing it, the musician would share his music with his neighbours in an extraordinary intimacy in which distance actually served to intensify the overall experience. Although the musician himself was not visible, his spirit was all the more palpable.

In this edition the audience is treated to new work by Dutch composers and to Reinbert’s favourites. Aart Strootman’s whisper-soft Air forms an intimate combination with Sofia Gubaidulina’s Silenzio for bayan, violin and cello. Incanto Ionico by composer Robin de Raaff is flanked by Claude Vivier’s Paramirabo, where the musicians whistling and “glittering” transform the Muziekgebouw into a colorful and resonant aviary.