In the prestigious Competition for percussion, TROMP will welcome 28 participants from 15 countries at Muziekgebouw Eindhoven. The best young percussionists come to the Dutch 'City of Light' to show their skills. TROMP is not only a music competition but also a high-profile percussion festival with various performances. In addition to rounds of the Competition, performances take place in the TROMP Festival. This makes Eindhoven the European (perhaps global) hotspot of percussion for 10 days. The festival program opens on November 12 at 21:00h with a performance by the band Jungle by Night in a percussion-oriented program especially for the occasion. Agostinho Sequeira, winner of TROMP 2020, plays along in a number of songs. On Sunday 13 November, Percussion Friends will perform a family concert in which the audience can also join. How different is the Lunch break concert on November 17. During this percussion composition competition, Dutch composition students are judged by a professional jury.
New during this biennial are also the Percussion Sessions on 18 and 19 November with presentations and performances for anyone who is interested in percussion - and music in general. These sessions are the initiative of Dominique Vleeshouwers who himself was the winner of the TROMP Competition in 2014. On Friday November 18, during the Sessions, 'Toonzetters' takes place, a concert experience of 20 young Dutch composers with a main role for percussion. Subsequently, the venue Effenaar is the scene of 'A New Dawn', a multidisciplinary show with constantly changing elements, made by breakdancer REDO, among others.
In the Competition, after 2 preliminary rounds on 11, 12 and 14 November, and the semi-final on 16 and 17 November, the 3 finalists will be on stage in the Finale on Sunday 20 November. The finalists perform as soloists with the ASKO|Schönberg ensemble in the new percussion concerto Folly, composed for TROMP by the Dutch Canadian composer Trevor Grahl. They have to play together with a video that is then projected on a large screen. The winner of the competition can expect a cash prize of 15,000 euros.