2025.11.15-23 Misato Mochizuki “Otemba – Daring Women” Tour in the Netherlands
I am back in the beautiful city of The Hague in the Netherlands after a year and a half.
The musical theatre piece, Otemba – Daring Women, composed by Misato Mochizuki, which premiered in Amsterdam in June, will tour four cities in the Netherlands in November. The piece explores themes of colonialism, gender, and identity, universal to contemporary society, through a dialogue between Cornelia van Nijenrode, a real-life Japanese-Dutch woman who lived in Hirado in the 17th century, and Kirana Dia, a fictional contemporary Indonesian woman.
This music theatre is based on the 17th century painting by Jacob Corman entitled “Pieter Cnoll, Cornelia van Nijenrode, their Daughters and Two Enslaved Servants” on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. I will play Cornelia van Nijenrode, the woman of Japanese and Dutch parents depicted in the painting.
We had a full rehearsal the day before the performance. It was great to see everyone again after so long since June.
The tour will take place in four cities, so I stay in The Hague and then make day trips to each city to perform. I will be riding the unfamiliar Dutch trains by myself to get there and back, so I am a bit nervous.
First up is our performance in Utrecht on November 15th. I only had a chance to walk around a little before the show, but it was a lively and lovely city.
The venue was a lovely hall called Tivoli Vredenburg, but it was our first time performing in a theatre where we all got together for the first time and only had a 45-minute rehearsal, which was quite thrilling.
15 November 20:00- Misato Mochizuki “Otemba – Daring Women”@Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands
The concert on November 18th was in Breda. Breda is a city in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, and is apparently associated with the Dutch royal family. I arrived early and walked around the city a bit. Perhaps because it’s close to Belgium, the streets are sophisticated and it was a very beautiful city.
In stark contrast to the last time, the theater was huge. The acoustics were not particularly conducive, so everyone sang loudly, trying to send the voices flying forward. I think I am finally getting used to this piece.
18 November 20:30- Misato Mochizuki “Otemba – Daring Women”@Chassé Theater, Breda, Netherlands
The performance took place in Rotterdam on November 22nd. Rotterdam is a treasure trove of modern architecture. On the left is De Rotterdam, designed by Rem Koolhaas, and on the right is the KPN Telekom building, designed by Renzo Piano.
The venue was the chamber music hall in the famous music hall, De Doelen.
This time, the venue was smaller than the last one, and the acoustics were good. We make small adjustments each time we perform.
22 November 20:15- Misato Mochizuki “Otemba – Daring Women”@de Doelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The next day, November 23rd, was the final performance in The Hague.
The venue was the music academy hall inside the famous music hall Amare.
The acoustics were the best I have ever had, and it was the easiest to perform. I am finally getting used to this difficult piece after the seventh time. I am sad to say goodbye to everyone just when I have gotten used to it.
23 November 15:00- Misato Mochizuki “Otemba – Daring Women”@Amare, The Hague, Netherlands
music : Misato Mochizuki
libretto : Janine Brogt
dramaturgy : Janine Brogt
artistic direction : Jan van den Berg
direction : Jan van den Berg
light design : Gé Wegman
video : Jasper Kayser
costumes : Lisa Konno
vocals : Ryoko Aoki (Cornelia van Nijenrode), Bernadeta Astari (Kirana Diah), Michael Wilmering (Miro)
conductor : Kanako Abe
ensemble : New European Ensemble
The Otemba tour, which began in June, has now come to an end. I hope we will have the opportunity to perform again in Japan or Indonesia! I’d like to express my gratitude to all the wonderful people I have had the opportunity to perform with.
The event was attended by Rob Anderson, Deputy Head of Mission at the Netherlands Embassy, Japan, and Daisuke Nakano, Charge d’Affaires a.i. of Japan to the Netherlands, Kenji Inoue, and Kazue Fujimoto, First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in the Netherlands, attended it. 
I said goodbye to the beautiful city of The Hague and headed to Paris for rehearsals for a new opera next year.
Over two days, I rehearsed with Finnish composer Juha T. Koskinen, director Aleksi Barrière, and Finnish actress Petriikka Pohjanheimo.
During lunch on the second day, composer Noriko Baba joined us for a meeting, as her music will be performed in the production.
My stay in the Netherlands and France was very fruitful.