Rewire 2025 – 10 Performances not to be missed

Rewire Festival 2025 arrives with its signature blend of boundary-erasing sound and cerebral stimulation, once again transforming The Hague into a pulsating epicenter of avant-garde expression. This year’s edition promises a heady mix of experimental music, digital art, and critical discourse, curated with a defiant disregard for genre constraints or easy consumption.

Rewire doesn’t pander—it provokes. From subterranean club spaces to lofty churches humming with drones and dissonance, it’s a place where the radical feels intimate, and the intimate feels radical. Think of it less as a festival, more as a synaptic reset—where sound is less heard than absorbed, where the program reads like a manifesto, and where staying comfortable is never the point.

We could easily have chosen 50 performances. But here we go: 10 kaput highlights. All quotes by Rewire Festival.

Colin Stetson
“The melancholia of his droney, spectral songs never sinks into travesty, as all of the urgent, human desperation in his songs is made buoyant through an impossible sense of hope and rebirth – summoned into being by the melody and rhythm of his horns and his breath.”
4.4., Amare – Concertzaal, 7.15pm

Arooj Aftab
“On her new album Night Reign (2024), Aftab’s voice sounds out as a beacon in the night among smoky jazz instrumentation and lavish ghostly productions – showcasing her continued evolution as an artist who always subverts expectations and valiantly dodges conventions.”
5.4., Amare – Concertzaal, 6.45pm

Belia Winnewisser
“Belia Winnewisser is a Zurich-based musician who – following involvement across many years in various bands (Evje, Silver Firs, a=f/m) – began working solo in 2018 and has released prolifically in the years since, while DJing and performing.”
5.4., The Grey Space in the Middle – Basement, 10pm

Osmium (Hildur Guðnadóttir, Rully Shabara, Sam Slater, James Ginzburg)
“Osmium is a collaboration between Oscar-winning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir – who composed the scores for, among others, Joker (2019), Chernobyl (2019), and Tár (2022) to much critical acclaim – vocalist Rully Shabara of Senyawa, musician James Ginzburg of emptyset, and Grammy-winning composer and sound designer Sam Slater.”
5.4., PAARD I, 10.15pm

DJ Plead b2b rRoxymore
“Following their exciting collaborative EP Read Round City (2024) on label Smalltown Supersound, DJ Plead and rRoxymore present a rare back-to-back DJ set at Rewire 2025. ”
5.4., PAARD II, 2.15am

Alvin Curran presenting Canti Illuminati
“A canonical work of Curran’s, Canti Illuminati was originally composed and recorded between 1973 and 1977. The piece is Curran’s tribute to the world’s first instrument: the human voice.”
6.4., Amare – Conservatoriumzaal, 5.15pm

Jules Reidy
“Through their distinct guitar playing and heartfelt vocals, Reidy trods a path across it, carefully guiding the listener into its deepest reaches.”
6.4., Lutherse Kerk, 5.15pm

Billy Bultheel presenting A Short History of Decay
“In this one-of-a-kind work, a small group from the audience are invited to sit among the musicians on stage while others take seats that surround a towering, monolithic, resonant instrument that amplifies the piece’s deep tones.”
6.4., Koninklijke Schouwburg, 5.30pm

more eaze & claire rousay
“As long-time collaborators, a warm, palpable feeling of friendship murmurs at the forefront of the music of more eaze – moniker of violinist and multi-instrumentalist mari maurice – and claire rousay – percussionist, improviser, and producer.”
6.4., Lutherse Kerk8.50pm

Eiko Ishibashi
“At Rewire 2025, Ishibashi presents a more intimate work, a solo performance for piano, flute, voice, and electronics in the special surroundings of Lutherse Kerk.”
6.4., Lutherse Kerk, 10pm