On 14 March 2026 Jeremy Birchall and Stina Quagebeur premiered Omelas for Ballett am Rhein at Opernhaus Düsseldorf. The work, in rep until 6 June 2026 and receiving 8 performances, features as part of the triple-bill Orgelpassion, alongside Glen Tetley’s Voluntaries and Goyo Montera’s Aurea. Watch Quagebeur discuss the ballet here.
The ballet, which features both abstract and narrative elements, is based on Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1973 short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas – an allegorical dystopian tale of a summer festival held in the eponymous city, where happiness is contingent on the perpetual misery of a single child. “What is the price of paradise and who has to pay for it?” asks Belgian choreographer Quagebeur. Birchall’s score features a prominent role for solo organ alongside its orchestral sweep, performed by Markus Hinz and conducted by Valtteri Rauhalammi.
Each piece is a gem in its own right.
Rheinische Post (Sabine Janssen) 15 March 2026
Set to music composed specifically for this piece by Jeremy Birchall—rhythmically clearly defined, tonal music in the style of 19th-century ballet scores—the movements are expansive and fluid. Whenever the situation threatens to tip from a lighthearted, ironic cheerfulness into something menacing, Birchall's music, which so masterfully captures the mood, loses its dance-like lightness. The movements become more angular and mechanical, and thus more modern, shattering the dance-like aesthetic of beautiful illusion…the strongest Düsseldorf ballet evening in a long time.
Online Musik Magazine (Stefan Schmöe) 17 March 2026
In this contemporary en pointe dance piece, set to a commissioned composition by Jeremy Birchall, the organ is the orchestra's partner. Its gravitas creates a mysterious atmosphere that reflects the tensions of the inhabitants and contrasts with the vibrant set design.
Westdeutsche Zeitung (Bettina Trouwborst) 17 March 2026
Ballett am Rhein presents itself in top form this evening. Full of technical brilliance, full of passion, less for the organ than for the music.
NRZ (Michael-Georg Müller) 15 March 2026
Omelas is Birchall’s fifth collaboration with Quagebeur. July 2024 saw the premiere of Everything InBetween in Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater. The 29-minute work, with an original orchestral score by Birchall, was commissioned by BalletX and tells the story of a couple in therapy, and the vicissitudes of their memories.
Hungry Ghosts – an exploration of opioid addiction – premiered in February 2024 as part of Joffrey Ballet’s triple-bill Studies in Blue at Chicago’s Lyric Opera and was lauded by critics. Birchall’s 40-minute score is a blend of live orchestral performance and recorded tracks. Their other projects include Nostalgia for Northern Ballet, performed at the Royal Opera House in 2022, and Catching Colour, a collaboration between English National Ballet and The Line, which debuted in 2022.
Liquid Life, a 30-minute ballet inspired by the writings of Zygmunt Bauman choreographed by Andrew McNicol and for his Ballet Collective, toured in March and April 2025, appearing at Hull City Hall, the Royal Academy of Music, and Leeds’ Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre. Scored for string quartet – present onstage throughout – and electronics, incorporating various diegetic sounds such as sirens and radio static, its premiere was the capstone of the Ballet Collective’s fifth anniversary Here and Now programme, and was celebrated by critics.