Selling Hoovers in Mojave

After 25 years, composer, percussionist and artistic director Daniel Cross officially left the Rosa Ensemble on Friday 30 September this year.

As a result, we are returning to one of the top productions from the rich history of the Rosa Ensemble and will again broadcast the special radio production of ‘Selling Hoovers in Mojave’ in Popart.

‘Selling Hoovers in Mojave’ is an ode to Captain Beefheart.

Captain Beefheart, aka Don van Vliet, was a key figure in the history of pop music. Beefheart owes his fame mainly to the double album that was released at the end of the sixties: ‘Trout Mask Replica’, which fully expressed his unique vision of the blues. Assisted by actor Hans Dagelet, the Rosa Ensemble played ‘Selling Hoovers in Mojave’ in 2004 in various venues across the country. The program consisted of arrangements of Beefheart songs together with new pieces by Eric de Clerq, Floris van Bergeijk and Daniel Cross.

Daniel Cross once told the Utrechts Nieuwsblad “This contemporary ode to Beefheart is a way to get a better grip on electro-acoustic music, guitar music and pop music. That is such a powerful musical language. Generally much more powerful than contemporary composed music.”

In June 1997, Cross founded the Rosa Ensemble together with fellow students from the Utrecht Conservatory. They were looking for a new, urgent and, above all, different performance practice for contemporary composed music. Under his passionate leadership, the ensemble has built up a wide-ranging oeuvre, with performances and events in which music and sound tell stories from world literature, science and (personal) history.

Thanks to Daniel’s inspiring dynamism, vision, charm and expertise, this oeuvre now occupies a unique place in the performing arts landscape. He received the Operadagen Rotterdam Award in 2018 for his contributions to the developments in music theater and the Fentener van Vlissingen Prize in 2010 for his musical services to the city of Utrecht.

Daniel Cross will now focus on composing, teaching and his cinematographic plans. His last Rosa composition will premiere in May 2023: Minamitori.

Daniel leaves Rosa at a time when the ensemble is doing well. We can be certain that they will continue to work on innovative music theatre projects that will ensure provocative encounters with their audiences.

For the time being, Florian de Backere will act as artistic director while the ensemble considers the way in which artistic leadership will be provided in the longer term.