Old or new, classic or modern, minimal or world. Pop. Tonal and atonal.
'Where is that sound coming from anyway?' I heard someone whisper behind me. Right above the audience, I saw a man playing tubular bells, idiophones and other percussion. Behind the stand of 1,000 people, a piano resonated. A celesta sounded in the corner of the Gashouder. Different sounds travelled around the venue like the earth makes its round in by starry sky....
Benin singer Zeynab Abib had some making up to do. And she did. As a guest artist in the opening performance of the Holland Festival last week, she performed in the limelight with Holland Festival associate artist Angélique Kidjo, but didn't quite pan out. This time, not in the big Carré but in the more intimate Great Hall
It's quite something, what Sami Yusuf brings to the stage: his own accompanying group of seasoned pros, the heavenly voices of Cappella Amsterdam and the traditionally Mediterranean sounds of the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra. Together, this results in a sound experience that moves from calm ponds with a gurgling fountain, to dry steppes winds, raging seas and overwhelming mountains. There could effortlessly be a...
Yemi Alade. What a woman. Never heard of her until 3 June, the opening of the Holland Festival's anniversary edition. She was one of the guests of Angelique Kidjo, the Benin-born African singer who is one of the two associate artists of the country's most prestigious festival this year. And Yemi Alade, star from Nigeria, threw her full...
For its 75th edition, the Holland Festival is teaming up with the Melkweg and club Lofi for some exciting evening and night programmes. On 3 and 24 June, the unpolished atmosphere of Lofi in the Westelijk Havengebied will allow for late-night partying, while on 20 June the Melkweg will be the place to be. During these three nights, co...
Plein Theater and Nieuwe Noten Amsterdam present a new season of contemporary chamber music concerts from May to December 2022! The next concert at Plein Theater on Sunday 29 May will feature Greek violinist Tania Sikelianou in honour of the 100th birthday of Greek composer Iannis Xenakis. On Sunday 19 June, Trio Napolov, Fridman, Sandee will play on the piano,...
The Underground NITE, 5 to 22 May; Chilling Nature Pictures Saturday matinee, 14 May The Underground The Underground is a gritty, witty and tragic performance by director Guy Weizman and the NITE ensemble (NNT, Club Guy & Roni, Asko|Schönberg, Slagwerk Den Haag). The performance is inspired by Annotations from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky; a monologue by a man who has suffered many blows...
cut-ups & fuck-ups, Berio & Burroughs Saturday 3 September With Words & Music, Asko|Schönberg serves you an afternoon and evening full of cut-ups & fuck-ups. A rush of sensations; fantastic, grim, absurd, disruptive and with humour. A festival full of cut-up, cut-up and brand-new performances, installations, film and more, inspired by the cut-up techniques of composer Berio and writer Burroughs. After the...
Saturday 23 April, 2.15pm and 4pm: Stairway to Music by Asko|Schönberg and the Muziekgebouw is an intimate 40-minute listening experience on the steps of Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. Stairway to Music is inspired by a story told at the farewell gathering of conductor/pianist Reinbert de Leeuw, who died in 2020. When Reinbert played the piano in his flat, people would take...
The programming for next season is largely known and ticket sales have started. Below is the overview of the programmes from September to December 2022. Asko|Schönberg opens season 2022/2023 on Saturday 3 September with festival Words & Music, a day full of cut-ups and fuck-ups inspired by Berio and Burroughs. Also many new works by Richard Ayres, Jan van de Putte, Arnold...
We always want to do the best, but usually fail horribly. Whether this is our habitual way of thinking, or whether we owe that idea to Ovid, we will never know. We can, however, say that the literary work 'Metamorphoses', published by Roman Ovid in the first year of our era, is the single most influential book of the...
With admittedly the smallest number of square metres of all stages in TivoliVredenburg, the Rabo Open Stage in the central hall is not inferior to the rest: since 2014, over 300 local artists have taken to the stage every year, destined for up-and-coming talent. After eight years of intensive use, the stage has been completely renovated. Rabo Open Stage provides a stage for the future. More times per...
Belgian composer Stefan Prins rattles the conventions of musical practice with his innovative approach. His brand new inhabit_inhibit is a visionary work, based on the ideas of Timothy Morton, in which man's loss of control over his environment is made audible and tangible in a penetrating way. To do so, Prins uses spatially arranged instruments, electronics and feedback loops. Follow the news,...
Sometimes I dream of a subsidy system where artists can actually carry out their wild plans all the way, to the extreme. Or, indeed, are obliged to do so. That, for example, if you make a musical, you actually have to put a live band on stage, and are not allowed to use a studio recording. And that you then have to pay money for that...
In honour of David Bowie's 75th birthday on 8 January 2022, the long-awaited album "TOY" will be released on 6×10-inch vinyl, cassettes and a 3 CD set a day before. In fact, this previously unheard album is part of the Brilliant Adventure boxset, which fans have been able to buy for 150 euros since November 2021. Is this a long-awaited sign from the afterlife, or...
Pure panic and existential angst: that's the picture you get when you approach makers in the arts personally about the effects of trickle down (the trickle down of corona funding from the government to those makers). The Creative Coalition may be making a fist for them, talking to the minister about it, the institutes debating it, but the makers are silent....
For the second time, Asko|Schönberg organises Words & Music, a festival full of cut-ups & fuck ups. A rush of sensations: fantastic, grim, absurd, disruptive and with humour. A day of cut-up, cut-up and brand-new performances in Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ and Tolhuistuin. After the successful first edition in 2020, Asko|Schönberg will once again bring together makers from different disciplines in unique ways,...
November Music 2021 kicked off on Friday 5 November with a sold-out Bosch Requiem composed this time by Hawar Tawfiq. The kick-off weekend featured a variety of concerts including FAQ's electronic music nights and Dez Mona's beautiful pop songs with baroque orchestra B.O.X. November Music continues until 14 November. Some 55 more concerts are in the offing on...
The Every (The Everything) is the name of a successful and widely loved company, the world's largest combination of a tech giant and a commercial giant. Dave Eggers describes this in his latest novel "The Every", follow-up to bestseller The Circle. On sale from mid-November 2021 at Amazons and Bol.Coms, but those who wanted it earlier could already...
Friends call him brother. His children say daddy. One day he hopes to become a grandfather. Sam Bettens (49) was known worldwide as the lead singer of Belgian band K's Choice when he decided to transition. And now he walks the beach in swimming trunks: 'I never want to hide myself again.' Tomboy As a young girl, Sam Bettens was a tomboy and wore the...
A stormy journey full of virtuosity and drama marks the new work Odysseus by two Dutch artists: Calliope Tsoupaki (Composer of the Fatherland) and Awoiska van der Molen (visual artist/photographer).Odysseus confronts us with the consequences of our human actions. Odysseus - by Calliope Tsoupaki, premiere. - 10 Nov to 2 Dec What happens when we are in danger of losing control, when an action leads to irreversible...
Thinking up your own music, directing a group of musicians or playing with colourful synthesizers? There is also plenty to do for younger audiences during the November Music 2021 festival! Visit the very first edition of the KinderKunstmuziekRoute in 's-Hertogenbosch on Sunday 7 November 2021 and create your own music! The presentation of "So You Think You can Write a String Quartet?!" is on Wednesday 10 November. Or drop by for the...
The link between the Orpheus myth and Arnhem potenrammers is more obvious than you might think. At least, if your name is Peer Wittenbols and you are one of the country's best playwrights. That you can also think of accordions as part of that is, in turn, extraordinary. Still, Blood Coral, a performance by accordion duo Toeac, with a lead role for Jack Wouterse on a text that promises...
His life is a strange journey through time, a giant leap forward from one musical culture to another. His mother was a composer and singer, his father accompanied a relay of famous song singers as a pianist. And Jan-Bas Bollen (1961) took to the stage early on as a promising violin talent. In 1970, a child of nine, he played at the Oscar Back Violin Competition, and...
The Bossche sounds in November are contemporary. Since '93, the city has acted as a sounding board for today's music under festival name November Music. I talked to Morris Kliphuis (composer) and lyricist Otto Wichers (Lucky Fonz III), about their musical piece High Dive. The song cycle will premiere 11 November at the Verkadefabriek, performed by singer Pitou and ensemble stargaze....
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