ICON Award, Recording Adeventures On The Water

Vivienne Aerts with Hydrophone - photo by Sebastiaan Zoomers

September 29, 2025

September News – ICON Award + recording adventures on the water⛵

Back in July, just before my birthday, my Indiegogo campaign for my new album ended, and we made it! In fact, we raised $7,545 (beyond the $5K goal!). Thank you very much for the support. And, because we reached the goal, the campaign is now “indemand” and so you can still pre-order the album if you haven’t.

Travels & Teaching

After the campaign wrapped, preparations continued as we spent time in Vancouver with friends, then flew to the Netherlands and drove to Beroun, near Prague, where we stayed for a night with Jesse Simpson and his family at their new artist retreat, Atelier 57. From there, we headed to Slovakia to teach at a week-long jazz workshop organized by my dear friend Ester Wiesnerova and her colleagues from Za hranice s hudbou. The workshop brought together 50 passionate young musicians, and the week was a joy. On top of that, we spent time with Ester’s husband, Jozef on his family’s apple farm. Highlights included an electronic jam session in the orchards of Bioplant in Ostratice, Teddy riding a tractor, and sharing homemade meals straight from the land. I also performed in the Červený Kláštor ‘red monastery’ close to the Polish border, whose origins date back to 1320. From Slovakia, we drove back via Italy and Switzerland, where we met up with some friends as well and were able to take a little break.

Two Weeks on the Water

Back in the Netherlands, we launched our boat adventure in August. As you might have seen on Instagram, it was a magical two weeks of sailing between the Kaag, Braasem, Amsterdam, and finally back to Leiden. The weather was on our side. The handmade mahogany boat from 1951 is very small; living on 10m² was intense, but also inspirational. No Wi-Fi, no distractions; just music, creativity, and the water. It felt like a retreat.

Our boat didn’t have a toilet, so we often stopped at Café de Haven (cafe the harbor) in Roelofarendsveen: great coffee, plus breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Most of the time, though, we cooked aboard with one little pan on a gas tank, even bringing our moka pot to make espresso. Showers were mostly morning swims, except for one “real” shower at photographer John Brussel’s cabin on Kaag Lake, where we also enjoyed a dinner and photoshoot on the water.

Along the way, I was interviewed for VPRO 3voor12. As I said in the interview: “For me, this album had to be about music first, I wanted to create an experience where sound and environment become inseparable. That’s why I chose such a unique recording space: you can hear the wind, the creaking wood, and even water splashing against the hull. All of it became part of the music.”

The theme wasn’t imposed, but natural: “As a Dutch person, I carry a deep cultural bond with water. For centuries, we’ve struggled with it, worked with it, lived on it. To me, this album reflects that balance – not fighting against but living with water.”

Nights were spent under a blue tent we tied to the boom, always outdoors. We worked with the elements: wind, waves, blazing sun. One evening, I even recorded inside a manual waterlock in front of Café de Haven. When the lock sank, the acoustics became incredible, and you can hear the water flowing right into the recordings.

One highlight was when bassist Adinda Meertins joined us on the tiny wooden boat to record two tracks on the Braasem Lake. Little birds even chirped along with her bass lines.

We sailed on to Amsterdam just before the busy Sail 2025 event, where we met up with saxophonist Susanne Alt and recorded in a canal next to Beatrix Park. Passersby, including some very puzzled dogs, stopped to listen. Later, we picked up harmonica player Hermine Deurloo at the Rapenburg and floated through the city center, finally finding a perfect acoustic pocket between a houseboat and an old bridge.

Besides the instrumental takes, I recorded the creaking rudder, the pulleys, the sails, birds, the reed-beds, and even bubbles underwater. It was amazing to experiment with different microphone setups, angles, and environments.

Alongside songs, I worked on electronic jams with my iPad and two synths. And Teddy filmed and photographed everything. Next up will be integrating all these sounds into the compositions before we move on to mixing and mastering.

Back on Land

Back in Leiden, we spent a few days catching up on errands and even learned how to repair our own stained glass windows from our neighbor Sophie Diatchenko. On our way back to the US, we stopped in Dublin to meet our friend Ronan, who gave me a 3D-printed flute designed by Teletunes.

And then came incredible news: I won the 2025 ICON Award from the Intercontinental Music Awards, honoring the top-scoring submission across all categories! I’m still pinching myself. I submitted my song What Will We Be (arranged by Zahili González Zamora piano, Iris Luis-Gomez on Bass, Itzel Reyna on sax, Karina Colis on drums, Milena Casado on flugel, Nêgah Santos on percussion, Rachel Therrien on trumpet, Sara Jacovino on trombone, Jessica Fenton mixing, and Maria Triana mastering). I couldn’t attend the five-hour online ceremony, but I later learned I had won, for my “remarkable musical achievement and social impact”. The award was sponsored and announced by Grammy Award-winning artist Sangeeta Kaur. So this week, I met CEO Shahed Mohseni, and we had a wonderful talk about life, music, and the world. I’m deeply grateful.

Now, Berklee has started up again. This semester, I’m teaching two new classes that I’ve created: Mindfulness-Related Techniques for the Performer and the Experimental Improv Ensemble.

Stay Connected

You can still pre-order and support the album through Indiegogo (or Tikkie/Venmo/Zelle).

Follow along on Instagram for more photos, videos, and stories from the boat—and sneak peeks into the upcoming music.

Thank you for being part of this journey. I can’t wait to share the finished album with you.

With love and gratitude,
Vivienne

PRESS

Winner of the 2025 InterContinental Music Awards! I won the prestigious ICon Award, accompanied by a $1,000 cash prize, honoring the top-scoring submission across all categories. Read the article on MusicAmerica here.

VPRO 3-voor-12 interview with Daan Vergouwe and photoshoot with Sebastiaan Zoomers. Read it here

Podcast Interview: I had a lovely conversation on the Experience of the Soul podcast with Cynthia Alice Anderson. We talked about balance, intuition, and how this new album is rooted in both. Listen here