After completing her Master’s Degree in theatre science, Caecilia studied Stage directing and Acting at the Theaterkade in Amsterdam. Since 2003 she has been working as a freelance stage director and cultural entrepreneur in projects ranging from opera to modern dance, and from industrial design to films.
Creating craftsmanship
At De Nationale Opera, she assisted Pierre Audi with the opera ‘Marco Polo’ and Martin Kušej with ‘Der fliegende Holländer’. At VocaalLAB (now: Silbersee) she directed young, classical educated singers in modern music theatre repertoire in ‘Berlijn-Bagdad’ and trained them in physical performance.
Cultural entrepreneur
In 2008, Caecilia set up TIS Theater and created two innovative music productions. In ‘Jij verlaat mij voordat ik jou verlaat’ she murged Schubert’s ‘Winterreise’ and Schumann’s ‘Frauenliebe und –Leben’ into a moving music theatre performance. On stage: a singing mime player, a physical acting mezzo-soprano and acting musicians. The other TIS Theater production was a refined theatre adaptation of Mendelsohn’s ‘Heimkehr aus der Fremde’, performed by four singers and two acting pianists. It was mentioned as ‘the surprise of Festival Oude Muziek 2009’ by the Dutch journal NRC.
A few years later, she founded WannaPlayGround together with stage designer Jan Boiten. WannaPlayGround is an interactive platform for contemporary composers. A playground for adults, where music, light, landscape and audience come together.
Crossing borders
In 2010, her curiosity led Caecilia to Osnabrück, Germany, where she has been working for two years at Dance Company Nanine Linning. With Linning she created the dance opera ‘Madama Butterfly’ (Pucini) and the successful multi-disciplinary dance production ‘Requiem’ based on the work of Fauré. ‘Voice Over’, her last production as a dramaturg at Nanine Linning, was nominated for ‘Der Faust 2012’, Germany’s most important theatre award.
Passionate stage director
Back in Holland, Caecilia works as a stage director with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on a regularly basis. In 2013 she created the semi-staged version of Wagner’s ‘Der fliegende Holländer’, followed up by ‘Lohengrin’. Lohengrin was nominated for the "Opera of the Year 2015" by Opera Magazine. In 2018 she directed Honegger’s ‘Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher’- that was praised by press and public.
Artistic and managing director at Oorkaan
Since 2015 she is the artistic and managing director of Oorkaan, an Amsterdam based company that creates music productions for young audiences. In this position she combines a lot of her talents: her craftsmanship as a stage director, her talent for cultural cooperation and her heart for universal classical music and physical performance.
And of course, to keep up with young audiences, you have to stay curious and keep on playing – don’t grow old!