Dark the Virgin

"It is in the utmost darkness that a flame shines brightest"

In this evocative evening of music-theatre, composer and Splendor musician Thomas Myrmel returns to the elemental power of the voice. A decade after stepping back from music-theatre, Thomas re-emerges—moved by the turbulence of our post-pandemic world—to confront the rawness of human sound and emotion.

Rooted in years of reflection and research, from artistic and scientific expeditions in Antarctica to seismic social events such as the murder of George Floyd, this performance is the result of an ongoing dialogue between sound and society. Myrmel’s intricate compositions explore pain, resilience, and the fragile flame of hope—through voice, electronics, and emotion laid bare.

Each piece stands alone, yet together they form a shared narrative on the edge of chaos: a precarious balance between devastation and transcendence. With haunting texts by Franz Kafka and additional music by Morton Feldman, the program reaches deep into the human psyche, where discomfort and beauty often meet.

Thomas Myrmel is a composer and multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges experimental music, theatre, and sonic research, often exploring the emotional and political dimensions of sound.
Featuring the extraordinary voices of:
Arnout Lems – masterful baritone with roots in contemporary music-theatre
Kelvin Chan – Chinese-American singer-actor/director blending opera, theatre, and movement
David Whitwell – countertenor/trombonist known for genre-bending vocal works

DARK THE VIRGIN is not just a concert—it is an invitation to sit in the dark and feel, to listen to what rises, and to discover, in that vulnerability, a radical kind of joy.