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Paper Braids (excerpt)info
Paper Braids came out of a long collaboration between me and the wonderful musicians of the Kali Ensemble. Through a series of workshops, residencies, and performances over the course of four years, we built up a collective practice focused on three topics: listening as the basis of musical interaction, awareness of how sound interacts with the performance space, and using that spatial awareness as a basis for both the duration of individual sounds and the temporal unfolding of an entire piece. All three focal points of our practice are represented in this piece. Paper Braids is tailored specifically to the acoustics of the Orgelpark hall and the tuning and timbral specificities of the four organs I used: Utopa and Sauer controlled algorithmically via the Hyperorgan console, the romantic Verschueren, and the meantone Van Straten organ. At the same time, the speakers and microphones are placed at four different spots in the hall to induce acoustic feedback in response to the organ sound. The idea of feedback is a core structural principle of the piece: not only is acoustic feedback responding to the sounds of the organs, but so is the listening of the musicians to the sound in space is guiding their performance: their scores look like ‘maps’ of the sounds in space, and they orient and build their own trajectories based on the sounds they hear. Simultaneously, the algorithm controlling the Hyperorgan reacts to certain sounds as they occur in the space, triggering different events on the organs in turn.
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info
Performed at WORM Rotterdam in 2025.
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at Flipchart: Looking with ears at iii on 29.11.2025. Photo by Pieter Kers | Beeld.nu
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at Flipchart: Looking with ears at iii on 29.11.2025. Photo by Pieter Kers | Beeld.nu
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at Flipchart: Looking with ears at iii on 29.11.2025. Photo by Pieter Kers | Beeld.nu
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at Flipchart: Looking with ears at iii on 29.11.2025. Photo by Pieter Kers | Beeld.nu
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at WORM Rotterdam in 2025. Photo by Marta Morosi
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at WORM Rotterdam in 2025. Photo by Marta Morosi
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at WORM Rotterdam in 2025. Photo by Marta Morosi
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Ample Space Betweeninfo
Ample Space Between is an interdisciplinary work that blends sound installation with live performance. The installation features eight resonant objects designed to interact with their surroundings, creating hybrid acoustic spaces. The installation is complemented by two pieces for clarinet and double bass with live electronics, performed by Alejandra Bejarano (double bass), Giuseppe Sapienza (clarinet), and Gregor Connelly (electronics), in which the musicians are interacting with the objects of installation in real time. Ample Space Between is a captivating exploration of time, space, and sound, where the boundaries between performers, audience, and environment are blurred.
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Moving into the Ample Space Betweeninfo
for clarinet and live electronics part of the multidisciplinary work Ample Space Between, combining a sound installation and a series of performances, created by Danya Pilchen performed by Giuseppe Sapienza, clarinet Gregor Connelly, electronics
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info
Ample Space Between is an interdisciplinary work that blends sound installation with live performance. The installation features eight resonant objects designed to interact with their surroundings, creating hybrid acoustic spaces. The installation is complemented by two pieces for clarinet and double bass with live electronics, performed by Alejandra Bejarano (double bass), Giuseppe Sapienza (clarinet), and Gregor Connelly (electronics), in which the musicians are interacting with the objects of installation in real time. Ample Space Between is a captivating exploration of time, space, and sound, where the boundaries between performers, audience, and environment are blurred.
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info
Sound installation created for the Bučeni 7 festival in Lubná, Czech Republic. 2024
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at Trixie The Hague in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at Trixie The Hague in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at Trixie The Hague in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Ample Space Between]( "Ample Space Between")
infoPresented at Trixie The Hague in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at the Klangraum 'day by day' festival in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at the Klangraum 'day by day' festival in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at the Klangraum 'day by day' festival in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at the Klangraum 'day by day' festival in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at the Klangraum 'day by day' festival in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at the Klangraum 'day by day' festival in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at the Klangraum 'day by day' festival in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at Klang im Dach in Munich, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at Klang im Dach in Munich, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at Klang im Dach in Munich, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Songs of Song of Songs]( "Songs of Song of Songs")
infoPresented at Klang im Dach in Munich, Germany, in 2024. Photo by Yinquan Chen
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![Three Silos]( "Three Silos")
infoSound installation created for the Bučeni 7 festival in Lubná, Czech Republic. 2024
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![Three Silos]( "Three Silos")
infoSound installation created for the Bučeni 7 festival in Lubná, Czech Republic. 2024
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![Three Silos]( "Three Silos")
infoSound installation created for the Bučeni 7 festival in Lubná, Czech Republic. 2024
Websites
Social media
Member of a professional association/artists’ association
Buma / Stemra
Curriculum vitae
Education
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2021 - 2022Sonology Den Haag, Koninklijk Conservatorium diploma
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2019 - 2019Composition International Young Composers Academy in Tchaikovsky City
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2018 - 2020Master Music Den Haag, Koninklijk Conservatorium diploma
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2018 - 2020
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2017 - 2017Composition International Young Composers Academy in Tchaikovsky City
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2016 - 2016Composition Open Space, creative laboratory for composers
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2015 - 2015Composition International Young Composers Academy in Tchaikovsky City
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2015 - 2015Composition Course. International Master Classes for New Music in Kyiv
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2013 - 2018Composition Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory diploma
exhibitions
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2025Ample Space Between WORM Rotterdam, Netherlands This March in the S/ash Gallery at WORM, we welcome the Rotterdam premiere of the "Ample Space Between" by Danya Pilchen (UA). Danya Pilchen is a composer based in The Hague and a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. He explores the human experience of time through sound and his work delves into the idea of ‘collective experiences’ of time , challenging the individuality of our perception and creating shared, immersive moments. ‘Ample Space Between’ is a site-specific sound installation that shapes and is shaped by the acoustics of the room where it is placed. It focuses on the connection between the aural experience of space and time by creating a ‘boundary’ or ‘hybrid’ space – a specific kind of acoustic space created by mixing the acoustics of several spaces. Created in collaboration with Gregor Connelly (creative audio technology, live electronics), Dennis Slootweg (metal stands), and Nirantar Yakthumba (coding), the installation features eight resonant objects designed to interact with their surroundings. In preparation for the exhibition, the artist spent time measuring and analysing the acoustics of the S/ash Gallery to determine the best placement for each object and what sonic presence each of them could have in the room. All the sounds of the installation are based on the acoustic feedback generated in real time. The resonances that the visitors will hear are thus unique and specific to the space they are in. On March 14th , Danya Pilchen and Gregor Connelly will present a live performance in which they will interact with the objects of the installation in real time. Here you are invited to reflect on the nature of time and our collective relationship to it through the fusion of sound, technology, and space. The exhibition opens its doors March 12th-15th between 16:00-19:00. On March 14th , the sound performance will take place at 19:00-19:30. Ample Space Between was created with the generous support of Trixie Den Haag and Makersregeling Gemeente Den Haag. worm.org/production/ample-space-between-sonic-installation/ Solo
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2025Flipchart: Looking with ears iii The Hague, Netherlands Flipchart stages artworks at the most exciting moment, before works are finished and presented at larger venues. Come with a sharp eye, careful ears and expect the unexpected! This Flipchart brings you the exciting extremes of the ‘Photosynthesizer’, a musical instrument that generates sound from the electrical output of cyanobacteria during photosynthesis (Lena Kuzmich), a heart-warming, multirhythmic auditory tactile installation (Anaïs Lossouarn), and an installation focusing on the connection between the aural experience of space and time by creating a ‘boundary’ or ‘hybrid’ space (Danya Pilchen). instrumentinventors.org/agenda/flipchart-looking-with-ears/ Group
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2024Ample Space Between Trixie The Hague, Netherlands For this exhibition, I created an interdisciplinary work that blends sound installation with live performance. The installation, created in collaboration with Gregor Connelly (audio technology, live electronics), Dennis Slootweg (metal stands), and Nirantar Yakthumba(coding), features eight resonant objects designed to interact with their surroundings, creating hybrid acoustic spaces. These objects will be brought to life through performances by the Kali Ensemble, with musicians Alejandra Bejarano (double bass), Giuseppe Sapienza (clarinet), and Gregor Connelly (electronics) engaging with the installation. Expect a captivating exploration of time, space, and sound, where the boundaries between performers, audience, and environment are blurred. www.trixiethehague.nl/events/ample-space-between-danya-pilchen/ Solo
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2024Songs of Song of Songs Klang im Dach Munich, Germany Songs of Songs is an installation and participatory performance. The composer and pianist Danya Pilchen, who is originally from Odessa and has lived in The Hague for many years, compiles a personal collection of erotic poems from Sappho to Nizar Qabbani and other contemporary authors, all of which revolve around Shir HaShirim (the Holy Song). Visitors are invited to experience his exhibition of poems and create their own shape by letting their "handwriting" relate to his. The fragments of his reading diary scattered around the room serve to inspire visitors to find their own way of reading, writing and interpreting these texts and to create thematic connections between the poems. www.facebook.com/christoph.nicolaus/posts/pfbid07F6vNnepJCoNoLeULrNqCN7kWaCUuC83BookG9BqrKtrLr5phSPpP1FyxCUH9n8pl Solo
Projects
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2024
Paper Braids Het Orgelpark Amsterdam, Netherlands danya.land/paper-braids-2024/ Paper Braids came out of a long collaboration between me and the wonderful musicians of the Kali Ensemble. Through a series of workshops, residencies, and performances over the course of four years, we built up a collective practice focused on three topics: listening as the basis of musical interaction, awareness of how sound interacts with the performance space, and using that spatial awareness as a basis for both the duration of individual sounds and the temporal unfolding of an entire piece. All three focal points of our practice are represented in this piece. Paper Braids is tailored specifically to the acoustics of the Orgelpark hall and the tuning and timbral specificities of the four organs I used: Utopa and Sauer controlled algorithmically via the Hyperorgan console, the romantic Verschueren, and the meantone Van Straten organ. At the same time, the speakers and microphones are placed at four different spots in the hall to induce acoustic feedback in response to the organ sound. The idea of feedback is a core structural principle of the piece: not only is acoustic feedback responding to the sounds of the organs, but so is the listening of the musicians to the sound in space is guiding their performance: their scores look like ‘maps’ of the sounds in space, and they orient and build their own trajectories based on the sounds they hear. Simultaneously, the algorithm controlling the Hyperorgan reacts to certain sounds as they occur in the space, triggering different events on the organs in turn.
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2024
Ample Space Between Trixie Gallery The Hague, Netherlands www.trixiethehague.nl/events/ample-space-between-danya-pilchen/ Join us at Trixie as we come together after the summer break to open the autumn season with Ample Space Between, a captivating sound installation and performance series by our summer residency artist, Danya Pilchen. Danya, a composer based in The Hague and a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, explores the human experience of time through sound. His work delves into the idea of ‘collective experiences’ of time, challenging the individuality of our perception and creating shared, immersive moments. During his residency at Trixie, Danya created an interdisciplinary work that blends sound installation with live performance. The installation, created in collaboration with Gregor Connelly (audio technology, live electronics), Dennis Slootweg (metal stands), and Nirantar Yakthumba (coding), features eight resonant objects designed to interact with their surroundings, creating hybrid acoustic spaces. These objects will be brought to life through performances by the Kali Ensemble, with musicians Alejandra Bejarano (double bass), Giuseppe Sapienza (clarinet), and Gregor Connelly (electronics) engaging with the installation. Expect a captivating exploration of time, space, and sound, where the boundaries between performers, audience, and environment are blurred.
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2024
Songs of Song of Songs Klang im Dach Munich, Germany www.facebook.com/christoph.nicolaus/posts/pfbid07F6vNnepJCoNoLeULrNqCN7kWaCUuC83BookG9BqrKtrLr5phSPpP1FyxCUH9n8pl Songs of Songs is an installation and participatory performance. The composer and pianist Danya Pilchen, who is originally from Odessa and has lived in The Hague for many years, compiles a personal collection of erotic poems from Sappho to Nizar Qabbani and other contemporary authors, all of which revolve around Shir HaShirim (the Holy Song). Visitors are invited to experience his exhibition of poems and create their own shape by letting their "handwriting" relate to his. The fragments of his reading diary scattered around the room serve to inspire visitors to find their own way of reading, writing and interpreting these texts and to create thematic connections between the poems.
- 2024
International exchanges/Residencies
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2024Přespolní Lubná, Czech Republic Residency at Přespolní. Lubná, Czech Republic. www.prespolni.org/filter/buceni-7
Commissions
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2026New work (untitled yet) Het Orgelpark Amsterdam, Netherlands Commission for a new work for voice, four organs, and electronics to be premiered on September 27 at the Orgelpark. orgelpark.nl
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2024Paper Braids Het Orgelpark Amsterdam, Netherlands Paper Braids came out of a long collaboration between me and the wonderful musicians of the Kali Ensemble. Through a series of workshops, residencies, and performances over the course of four years, we built up a collective practice focused on three topics: listening as the basis of musical interaction, awareness of how sound interacts with the performance space, and using that spatial awareness as a basis for both the duration of individual sounds and the temporal unfolding of an entire piece. All three focal points of our practice are represented in this piece. Paper Braids is tailored specifically to the acoustics of the Orgelpark hall and the tuning and timbral specificities of the four organs I used: Utopa and Sauer controlled algorithmically via the Hyperorgan console, the romantic Verschueren, and the meantone Van Straten organ. At the same time, the speakers and microphones are placed at four different spots in the hall to induce acoustic feedback in response to the organ sound. The idea of feedback is a core structural principle of the piece: not only is acoustic feedback responding to the sounds of the organs, but so is the listening of the musicians to the sound in space is guiding their performance: their scores look like ‘maps’ of the sounds in space, and they orient and build their own trajectories based on the sounds they hear. Simultaneously, the algorithm controlling the Hyperorgan reacts to certain sounds as they occur in the space, triggering different events on the organs in turn. danya.land/paper-braids-2024/ finished
Publications
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2026Paper Braids Cd/Dvd Moving Furniture Records Danya Pilchen Amsterdam, Netherlands contemporaryseries.bandcamp.com/album/paper-braids Paper Braids came out of a long collaboration between me and the wonderful musicians of the Kali Ensemble. Through a series of workshops, residencies, and performances over the course of four years, we built up a collective practice focused on three topics: listening as the basis of musical interaction, awareness of how sound interacts with the performance space, and using that spatial awareness as a basis for both the duration of individual sounds and the temporal unfolding of an entire piece. All three focal points of our practice are represented in this piece. Paper Braids is tailored specifically to the acoustics of the Orgelpark hall and the tuning and timbral specificities of the four organs I used: Utopa and Sauer controlled algorithmically via the Hyperorgan console, the romantic Verschueren, and the meantone Van Straten organ. At the same time, the speakers and microphones are placed at four different spots in the hall to induce acoustic feedback in response to the organ sound. The idea of feedback is a core structural principle of the piece: not only is acoustic feedback responding to the sounds of the organs, but so is the listening of the musicians to the sound in space is guiding their performance: their scores look like ‘maps’ of the sounds in space, and they orient and build their own trajectories based on the sounds they hear. Simultaneously, the algorithm controlling the Hyperorgan reacts to certain sounds as they occur in the space, triggering different events on the organs in turn.
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2023two songs. anne, germaine, koen, seamus, danya Cd/Dvd Wandelweiser Records Danya Pilchen Düsseldorf, Germany www.wandelweiser.de/_e-w-records/_ewr-catalogue/ewr2303.html two songs. anne, germaine, seamus, koen, danya is part of a series of pieces under the name of songs i have been working on for the past few years. in the series, i explore the possibilities of making and experiencing time through attentive listening and the interaction of musicians in this piece, i focused on creating a dialogue between two measures of time, both built around the materiality of making a sound. in the first song, the temporal organisation grows out of the durations of decaying sounds of the piano and double bass. in the second, the wind players’ breathing becomes the larger-scale measure of time, coming into a dialogue with the decaying sounds we learned to share one breath between the ensemble and use the resonance of our instruments to amplify each other’s sounds. listening to the room’s resonance also played a role in the piece’s unfolding. i composed this piece in close collaboration with the participating musicians: anne, germaine, seamus, and koen. their artistry and personalities shaped the way the piece sounds
reviews
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2026Een Os op het Dak Radio Thea Derks Amsterdam, Netherlands www.concertzender.nl/programma/een_os_op_het_dak_872750/ Een os op het dak 83: De os in tijden van oorlog # 46. Een introductie van eigentijdse muziek in gewonemensentaal. Werken van Danya Pilchen, Ivan Vukosavljevic & Grace Williams
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2026Review: Danya Pilchen Two Songs. Anne, Germaine, Koen, Seamus, Danya (Edition Wandelweiser Records) Magazine Brian Olewnick Wilmington, NC, United States www.squidco.com/cgi-bin/news/newsView.cgi?newsID=2818
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2026Review:Danya Pilchen & Kali Ensemble :: Paper Braids (Moving Furniture) Magazine Philippe Blache Corona, CA, United States igloomag.com/reviews/danya-pilchen-kali-ensemble-paper-braids-moving-furniture A slow-burning meditation on the inner life of sound, Paper Braids unfolds as a meticulous exploration of space, microtonal nuance, and the fragile poetry of sustained tone.
Awards and grants
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2024Ample Space Between Makersregeling The Hague, Netherlands In this project, I will collaborate with Trixie Den Haag on creating an interdisciplinary work combining a sound installation and a composition focused on resonant vessels and acoustic feedback. The project will consist of a residency resulting in an exhibition and a concert series. During the residency, I will develop the work at Trixie’s gallery space and receive coaching from the Trixie artists. The installation consisting of eight resonant objects will be exhibited at Trixie for two weeks. Two compositions for double bass, clarinet, and electronics, will be performed several times during the exhibition, in which the instrumentalists will interact with the objects of the installation. Last year, I explored temporalities that emerge in the resonances between different spaces and how we listen to them. I developed this aspect of my practice during a four-month-long artistic research at Studio LOOS. In the pieces that resulted from the residency, I invited the listeners to develop an intuition for the acoustic interactions between various spaces – strings, instrument bodies, resonant objects, the room in which the piece is played – in connection with how it affects their experience of time. In those works, I first introduced resonant glass vessels into my practice. Using them as ‘spaces within the space’ with drastically different acoustic qualities, I brought attention to the resonances in the boundaries between them. After that, I approached Trixie to continue working with the resonant vessels. We agreed on creating a work combining a sound installation and a series of instrumental performances. For the latter, I will collaborate with musicians from The Hague-based Kali Ensemble Alejandra Bejarano (double bass), Giuseppe Sapienza (clarinet), and Gregor Connelly (electronics and sound engineering).
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2023Making Time Together. Collective Experiences of Time in Continuous Ensemble Practice Makersregeling The Hague, Netherlands In my research and practice, I explore collective experiences of time in music through my continuous collaboration with Kali Ensemble. During this project, I will investigate and further develop my compositional strategies that encourage creative listening and participation from musicians and audiences. At the core of this project will be two concerts at Studio LOOS, where the results of two intense workshops with Kali will be presented.The concerts will take place on March 3 and May 12. The workshops, with a period of research and critical reflection between them, will allow me to develop innovative approaches to listening and explore their potential to influence listeners’ time perception. I will explore how the listening experiences of both the musicians and audiences can inform my further research into how we think about and feel time in music. Time perception is commonly seen as a specifically personal, even introspective experience, set against the clock-time, the time of ‘objective reality’. However, music often creates powerful shared experiences of time and synchrony while playing and listening together. These experiences are intuitively familiar to many musicians, and I will argue that ensemble musicking can offer unique environments for studying them. I hope that analysing ensemble workshops will allow for transferrable knowledge of time that can have implications for fields outside my musical practice, including the economic and political aspects of music-making and, ultimately, transform our everyday understanding of time.
Secondary art-related activities
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2021 - 2021Project manager at Values for Survival, an opening concert for the Architecture pavillion at the Venice Biennale 2021