Scherpdenkers: Brankele Frank – Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

Date: Monday, 7 December 2026
Time: 20:15
Duration: 01:20
Venue: Het Concertgebouw
Address: Concertgebouwplein 10, 1071 LN Amsterdam, Netherlands
City: Amsterdam
Organisation: Het Concertgebouw
Price range: 24 € – 45 €

About this event

Scherpdenkers is a Het Concertgebouw Eigen Programmering recital series pairing a writer, columnist or scientist with a small chamber ensemble to explore one idea through spoken word and live music. The 2026 edition with neurobiologist and writer Brankele Frank carries the working title “Vrolijk gestemd – hoe je een snaar raakt” and frames musical experience as a neurobiological and emotional event: how sounds become feelings, how feelings become bodily sensations, and how performers encode emotion into sound. The four programmed works each illuminate a different mode of musical impact: Balkan folk energy and trance (Tajčević), mirror-like stillness (Pärt), minimalist building blocks (Swart), and primordial, rhythmic natural force (Fagerlund). Five performers—speaker, clarinet, cello, bayan (bajan) and piano—share the Recital Hall stage in an intimate, continuous format without intermission.

Scherpdenkers: Brankele Frank – Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

About this event

Cast & creative