Opwaarts Dordrecht invites Grandbrothers and Matteo Myderwyck

Two day festival full of neo classical, ambient, electronical and indie music. – April 5th, 2025

On April 5th 2025, Dordrecht transforms into a two-day oasis of neoclassical, ambient, electronic, and indie music. Opwaarts takes you on a journey into a world where music, visuals, and light merge into an enchanting experience. At two iconic locations – the majestic Grote Kerk and the industrial Energiehuis – you can escape the hustle and bustle of daily life. Leave behind the pressure of social obligations and endless doomscrolling. Give yourself the space to unwind and be carried away by meditative sounds and breathtaking projections. Whether you come to listen, watch, or simply be: Opwaarts invites you to discover, feel, and reconnect with yourself.

With a line-up of top live artists and a program centered on tranquility and wonder, Opwaarts promises to be an unforgettable journey. We are happy to announce that Grandbrothers and Matteo Myderwyck are added to the line-up of this amazing festival.

Matteo Myderwyk
Matteo Myderwyk is the first Dutch pianist and composer to sign with the prestigious Warner Classics label. He is also the first Dutch artist to be nominated for an Edison Award Neo Classical two years in a row! His album A Brief Nostalgia garnered (inter)national attention, resulting in sold-out shows and his second Edison nomination.

Matteo’s years of training as a classical pianist at the conservatory taught him above all to leave behind the music of his heroes Bach, Liszt, and Messiaen and find his own musical voice. First, he decided to discard all classical rules and conventions. Creating music without prearranged plans, with the goal of making music in the moment, became his priority. This was the most important lesson he learned during this experimental phase: music doesn’t exist on paper but is made in the moment.

His live shows pick up where the acclaimed album leaves off. A fully immersive sound universe is explored: from impressionistic piano playing and minimalist organ soundscapes to gritty solos on his Moog synthesizer.
Music created in the moment – this is the style Matteo has mastered over the past years by blending his classical background with the fascinating world of free jazz.

Grandbrothers
The music of Grandbrothers represents a fusion of the old and the new.
The duo, founded in Düsseldorf, Germany, consists of pianist Erol Sarp and engineer/software designer Lukas Vogel. Their groundbreaking work revolves around the collaboration between these two artists. On their remarkable new album Late Reflections (released on April 21, 2023), they merge their artistry with a venue so ancient it surpasses their music by seven centuries: Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom). This iconic monument served as an unconventional recording studio for Grandbrothers’ fourth album. The result is an album steeped in history and architecture, with the spatial qualities of this awe-inspiring building shaping and deepening the duo’s compositions.

The idea arose after a concert in 2019, when the church’s chief architect unexpectedly asked if they would like to perform in the cathedral. Three years later, Grandbrothers held a unique concert in the vast nave of the cathedral, performing music specifically composed for its immense space and acoustics. In preparation for this concert, Sarp and Vogel developed enough material for a full album, resulting in Late Reflections. While closely tied to the concert, the album is not a live recording; the duo recorded the work over several nights in July, within the Cologne Cathedral.