Birds of Paradise 2026

Six days of boundary-pushing classical, indie and electronic music: Birds of Paradise transforms Utrecht into a hub for experimental voices and contemporary sound. On 9, 16 and 18–21 March 2026, the 5th edition of the festival hosts forward-thinking performances and collaborations featuring esteemed acts like CocoRosie, caroline and Zola Jesus, alongside bold emerging talents in the concert halls of TivoliVredenburg.

Subbacultcha’s Guide to the Programme of Birds of Paradise

9 March – Zola Jesus x Spaceship Ensemble
The festival opens with a powerful collision of voice and avant-garde orchestration. Classically trained opera singer and boundary-pushing art-pop artist Zola Jesus presents the premiere of a brand-new 20-minute composition Flexural, written for soprano, string quintet and horn. On stage, she is joined by Spaceship Ensemble, the adventurous collective from The Hague known for their unconventional line-ups, synths and DIY instruments. Together they bring Flexural to life in a performance that moves between contemporary composition and raw emotional intensity. Alongside the premiere, Zola Jesus performs music from across her work — including Avalanche, Hikikomori and Run Me Out from the album Versions. Expect a dramatic opening night where operatic power, electronics and chamber music collide.

16 March – CocoRosie: Little Death Wishes
CocoRosie brings a mythology of its own to the stage — a kaleidoscope of poetry, ritual and voice in extremis. For over twenty years, Bianca and Sierra Casady have transformed love, adversity and sisterhood into bold, singular music. At Birds of Paradise, they present their latest album, Little Death Wishes — an open and tender-hearted creation that distills everything CocoRosie into its most brutal essence.

18 March – Tony Njoku x Spaceship Ensemble
Step onto the stage and into the music. For this special evening, the audience sits among the musicians in the main hall, surrounded by sound while 3D projections transform the organ, walls and stage into a shifting visual landscape. London-based composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Tony Njoku is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary experimental music. Blending electronic, ambient and classical influences, his work moves between intimacy and cinematic intensity. On his breakthrough album All Our Knives Are Always Sharp, he explores themes of spirituality and resistance through layered textures and haunting falsetto, collaborating with artists such as Tricky, James Massiah and Ghostpoet. For this performance, he joins forces with the Spaceship Ensemble string quartet, expanding his music into a rich live sound of strings, electronics and voice. The result is immersive, emotional and full of tension — a performance that unfolds somewhere between concert, soundscape and dream.

19 March – caroline
caroline makes music that feels like stepping into another world – a sound that is fluid, emotional and impossible to pin down. Blending folk, post-rock and experimental pop, the eight-piece London band creates a musical language of their own. Their songs grow out of collective improvisation, looping patterns and slow transformations. Guitars and drums intertwine with strings and woodwinds, building a sound that is both fragile and overwhelming. After their widely acclaimed debut album in 2022, the band returned in March 2025 with caroline 2, expanding their sonic universe even further. As Dutch music magazine OOR wrote: “caroline overwhelms and disrupts, while simultaneously possessing beautiful melodies.” For Birds of Paradise, the band invited a special guest: Flemish accordionist Suzan Peeters. They first saw her perform at the legendary Cafe OTO and were instantly captivated: “Everyone in the room was completely taken aback and transfixed by her set. It was a very special and beautiful thing to witness. We’re very excited to share the stage with her – if only to experience that performance again.” Expect an evening where delicate acoustic textures, hypnotic repetition and explosive moments come together — intimate, unpredictable and completely immersive.

20 March – Thomas Azier: PANORAMA (Sold Out)
With his unmistakable blend of pop, cinematic composition and emotional intensity, Thomas Azier has carved out a unique place in the European music landscape. In PANORAMA, Azier expands his music into an immersive live experience. Songs, poetic interludes, field recordings and visuals flow into one another, forming a moving collage of sound and image — sometimes intimate and fragile, then suddenly vast and cinematic. Before the concert, the evening begins in the foyer with a special audiovisual installation by Azier himself, offering a glimpse into the world behind PANORAMA and setting the tone for what’s to come.

21 March – Bird’s Nest
Bird’s Nest is dedicated to discovering new sounds and unexpected collaborations. Taking over two stages at TivoliVredenburg, the night brings together five fast-rising artists who each bend genres in their own way: Glass Museum, Claire Dickson, Cosmic Bride, Doriene Marselje and Dronechoir. Across the evening you’ll move between experimental jazz with flashes of rap, ambient art pop, daring contemporary composition, hypnotic vocal drones and raw harp sounds woven together with modular synths. Each performance opens a different world — intimate, adventurous and completely unpredictable. Want to be part of the performance yourself? For Dronechoir, women can sign up to join the collective live on stage. Add your voice to a powerful wall of sound and become part of the festival. Register via Birds of Paradise.

Birds of Paradise takes place on six evenings on 9, 16 and 18 to 21 March 2026 at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht.
For more information, visit the Birds of Paradise website and purchase tickets here.

Birds of Paradise has kindly made a limited number of free spots available for Subbacultcha members. Check our our agenda for more information.