Siebe Thijs is Younger than Jesus 2026

Who is Siebe Thijs?

I would describe myself as a composer of contemporary music. I compose for the concert hall as well as for interdisciplinary contexts such as theatre or museums. Tone and texture are very important in my work, as is the relationship between the performer, the instrument and the musician's physical actions.

What is your old music band?

I am not only a composer but also a big fan and lover of early music. That is very broad, ranging from Gregorian chants, Flemish Polyphonists and Dowland to Monteverdi and Bach. Early music is therefore very interesting. As a composer, I'm always working on music from the past. When I write a new work, I often want to explore a certain topic and approach it in different ways and angles. Then I'm looking at old music anyway, at the canon. I am constantly researching music that was previously written and include that in my work. And I also love listening to it, so that's an advantage!

Does your music also look like old music?

What is very interesting is that old music sounds very different from what I make, but it is not always far away from a purely analytical point of view. If you look at the two in a certain way, they look very similar, even though they often sound quite different.

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When you put old music and my music side by side, they look very similar, even though they often sound very different.

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‍What will you do at MA Festival?

I'm writing music for two concerts. During the opening concert, I have the typical composer role. The top orchestra Il Pomo d'Oro plays three works by Mozart, but they start with my work. So the festival really opens with a piece of me, which makes it very exciting. Especially because they play on period instruments and that is a new experience for me. Later in the week, I'm doing a concert with Extended Music Collective. This is a more hybrid form. We start from a Bach cantata and translate it from different angles. You will certainly hear Bach, but we will also work with it, in a respectful way, of course. The cantata says that we should share our possessions with the poor and be good to others. All things that we also have to deal with today. So we're really trying to bring the cantata into the context of today's society.

How do you start composing such a work?

In any case, I'll start by analyzing the program and scores. I'm looking for how I can place certain elements of the piece in a context of my piece or let them enter into dialogue with another sound context. What do I want to bring? What triggers me in the score? What sound can I use to construct something new that is conceptually connected, but will therefore not sound the same?

What inspires you?

The banality of things and the observation of the everyday world is what usually drives me to write new work. In addition, I am also very interested in human topics such as protest or social relationships, but also everyday objects that generate sound on their own.

Which composer do you look up to?

I can't answer that! As a composer, it's very important to study carefully what other composers have done, so I look up to them all. I can't choose any because they each have their own strengths and perspectives. If I choose Bach, I should include Beethoven, and then Haydn, and then Wagner and then the whole history of music.

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