Dutch composer Merlijn Twaalfhoven (1976) is known for his musical versatility, his talent for bringing people together and his love for unusual performance locations. Twaalfhoven graduated in 2003 from the Amsterdam Conservatory before teaching PopKunst (literal translation: PopArt) at ArtEZ Art School from 2004 to 2008. Twaalfhoven has always strived to stage his work in special locations with a view to creating a common experience. He has mounted performances as part of a night-time festival event (La nuit n’est pas un chocolat, 2002-2006), at a market hall (La Nuit de Bratislava, 2004) and inside an old Soviet submarine (Kursk, 2005). In his Symfonie voor iedereen (Symphony for Everyone, 2007) members of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra are joined by amateur musicians and school children. Twaalfhoven's passion for uniting people is reflected in various international projects as well, including Long-Distance Call (2005), which was performed at either side of the Greek/Turkish Cypriot border; and Carried by the Wind (2009), staged around Bethlehem's 'Separation Wall'. In 2011, Twaalfhoven received a Unesco Young Artist Award for his contributions to the intercultural dialogue between the Arab and Western worlds. Since 2015, Twaalfhoven has been collaborating intensively with the acclaimed Kronos Quartet, as part of Kronos' Fifty for the Future as well as other projects. As a composer, Twaalfhoven is praised for his adventurous, capricious, but also sensual music, controlled by a strong sense for structure and balance.