Night Owl bridges sound and storytelling at the Queer Arts Festival, June 8
Dutch accordionist Erica Roozendaal explores themes of abuse and childhood instability in her heartfelt solo performance
Erica Roozendaal’s Night Owl.
Queer Arts Festival presents Night Owl at the SUM gallery on June 8 at 7 pm, in partnership with the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra
ACCORDIONIST AND VISUAL ARTIST Erica Roozendaal is bringing her one-woman show to the Queer Arts Festival stage. Deeply personal and unabashedly moving, Night Owl merges Roozendaal’s original scriptwriting and accordion playing in a powerful performance.
Music is at the heart of Roozendaal’s practice. A versatile artist and passionate storyteller, she began her musical journey in 1995 when she received her first accordion. Following her studies in classical music, she expanded her skills in contemporary, folk, and improvisation, and eventually created the ensemble Roadrunner in 2016, which reflects her fondness for unusual sounds and storytelling. She strives to connect with listeners and challenge them with her unique compositions and shows.
Roozendaal’s involvement in school performances was what drew her into theatre, as she discovered her talent and interest in acting. She has also been teaching accordion and music to preschoolers at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague since 2020.
Presented at the SUM gallery in partnership with the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra on June 8, Roozendaal’s two-hour Queer Arts Festival program features music by the late American composer Pauline Oliveros, as well as her own original showpiece Night Owl.
First written in 2022, Night Owl is based on Roozendaal’s personal experiences and memories, where she portrays the vulnerable character of Daan, who is “thirty, six, ten, and fifteen” all at once. Alternating between playing the accordion and delivering her monologue, Roozendaal delivers a touching performance, intricately displaying the complex emotions of growing up in an unsafe environment. 
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