After the festival opening by Gratte Ciel, the French theater company Mécanique Vivante will take you on a musical parade through the city. Especially for Cultura Nova and for the Municipality of Heerlen, the composer of Mécanique Vivante is creating The Sirens’ Song, a special composition for the seven-piece polyphonic orchestra of musical sirens, sung live with the Limburg singers Fenna Ograjensek and Lien Haegeman. Like a modern-day Pied Piper of Hamelin, founder Franz Clochard and his troupe traverse the city on glorified locomotives. Along the route, attention is drawn to the sirénium, a unique instrument that powers the Sirens, and to the famous flying chainsaw that triggers the majestic call of a foghorn.

Stroll along and be amazed on the Raadhuisplein where, with the one and only Sirens’ Orchestra, the grand opening of Heerlen’s renovated Council House and new City Office will be celebrated in a grand finale. The Sirens’ Song proclaims the optimism that Francine Houben of Mecanoo, the architect of the City Office wants to give to Heerlen with her building. “Until I was eight years old I lived in Heerlen, a happy time,” she says. “I wanted the optimism I experienced here to be reflected in an elegant building, which I designed with respect for Peutz’s Council House. It is an impetus to enliven the center. A house in and for the city.”

Tip! Monday, Aug. 28 Mécanique Vivante pulls through Voerendaal with a parade.

This performance is made possible by the Municipality of Heerlen in connection with the opening of the new City Office and the reopening of the Council House. General concept Franz Clochard Lighting design Pierre Wendels Sound engineer Rémy Gonin Musical composition Patrice Colet & Benoit Louete Percussion Lucie Delmas Guitar Eric Lorher Siren Franz Clochard Bells Millie Dolan Technicians Sarah Dehaes & Nino Beyler Direction Franz Clochard Production Millie Dolan