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DALL·E 2023-11-14 17.16.50 - A noir-style, black and white illustration of modern jazz musicians performing in the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal

IN PERSPECTIVE 18: Has it already started, or is jazz policy in the Netherlands already over?

In the series In Perspective, Erik Akkermans looks back and ahead at developments in cultural policy and practice. Today: policies for jazz and improvised music. From the Oude Schans to Rijswijk May 1983, Monday morning, a quarter past eight. Location: the soulless office tower in Rijswijk housing the Ministry of Welfare, Public Health and Culture. Minister Brinkman addressed the members of the Working Group on... 

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November Music 2023-Bosch Requiem-AartStrootman-Jostijn Ligtvoet Fotografie

November Music 2023 successful

With Fuse's rousing final concert, November Music 2023 came to an end on Sunday 12 November. Twelve days of versatile new music featured contemporary composed works, choral music, electro-jazz, Arabic maqam, musical theatre and much more. Bosch Requiem 2023 composed by Aart Strootman, John Zorn and all the concerts by Maya Fridman were highlights. Our thanks... 

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© Kurt Van der Elst, scènefoto Rhapsody

Dutch premiere Rhapsody - The musicality of grinding minds

LOD muziekktheater in coproduction with Asko|Schönberg23/11 Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw26/11 Breda, Chassé Theatert/m 22/2 diversie theatres in Belgium Belgian actor Josse De Pauw and composer Frederik Neyrinck are inspired by Wim Kayzer's television series Van de schoonheid en de troost. 'Tell me what makes this life worth living' is how Wim Kayzer opened the conversation with artists, scientists and philosophers in his legendary television series Van de... 

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Luna Quartet en Vincent van Amsterdam

In Den Bosch this Sunday, I heard light breaking

At half past eleven on a Sunday morning, it might be a bit much: Maya Fridman, improvising on her cello. Watching her play, together with pianist Maarten van Veen, is an intense experience. She becomes one with her instrument, it overwhelms her, it is almost too intimate to watch. But what warmth waves through the audience.... 

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pr-beeld November Music

'Transformation makes music interesting' Simon Steen-Andersen's surprising 'Inszinierte Nacht' is coming to November Music 

The image should especially pierce piano lovers: a concert grand piano crashing out of the ceiling onto a stage in super slomo. The interior bulges out, keys fly around. Moments later, the ruined piano empire turns out to play a part in a real piano concerto after all. It could have been a one-off performance, were it not for the... 

Read More "'Transformation makes music interesting' Simon Steen-Andersen's surprising 'Inszinierte Nacht' is coming to November Music 

A Jennifer Walshe course in 10 lessons #novembermusic2023

"Maybe the future of music is string quartets doing Skype performances for babies in neonatal wards, maybe everything is on an iPhone but edited to sound like a low-quality mp3 you downloaded from Napster in 2002, maybe it's soundscapes in sacred springs. I'm much more interested in this way of thinking." (Jennifer... 

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YPY

November Music 2023 presents FAQ Festival from 2 to 4 November 2023

FAQ Festival of Electronic Music is part of November Music for the third time in a row. From 2 to 4 November, FAQ will again showcase a broad palette of electronic sounds with this year's focus on the adventurous Japanese music scene. November Music 2023 will take place from 1 to 12 November at various locations in 's-Hertogenbosch. Since its inception,... 

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November Music presents Bosch Requiem in five cities in the Netherlands

November Music 2023 takes place from 1 to 12 November at various locations in 's-Hertogenbosch and opens on Wednesday 1 November 2023 with the Bosch Requiem, composed by Aart Strootman on a libretto by Jan Rot. The Bosch Requiem can be heard in 's-Hertogenbosch, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groningen and Rotterdam in the period around All Souls' Day. Bosch Requiem 2023 For the seventh... 

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Asko|Schönberg in the NTR Saturday matinee - Around Unsuk Chin

World premiere by young composer Thomas van Dun commissioned by Asko|Schönberg, master pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard in György Ligeti's Piano Concerto and Unsuk Chin finds her inspiration on the streets. In 2008 and 2009, Korean composer Unsuk Chin visited Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The atmosphere of the old residential areas with their narrow, winding alleys, marketplaces and food vendors reminded her... 

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Jameszoo, foto Marcel Veldman

'Blind' for non-existent soloist and ensemble Asko|Schönberg, Slagwerk Den Haag & Jameszoo: Premiere 4 Oct, tour until 9 Nov

Jameszoo wanted to disappear from his music. That failed completely, he tells himself. But what a glorious failure. He developed an instrument that is not only self-playing, but also improvises and communicates with musicians playing live. They let the non-existent soloist challenge them to unpredictable musical playing. Electroacoustic wrestling Asko|Schönberg and Slagwerk Den Haag enter into a collaboration ... 

Read More "'Blind' for non-existent soloist and ensemble Asko|Schönberg, Slagwerk Den Haag & Jameszoo: Premiere 4 Oct, tour until 9 Nov
Floris Kortie op de nieuwe webpagina van Podium Klassiek

Floris Kortie deserves every support in his Podium Klassiek solo.

On Sunday 10 September, Podium Klassiek opened the season in a very stripped-down version. Floris Kortie was all alone. In the world of public broadcasting and classical music, where things are usually fixed three years in advance, something was up. I felt an end approaching. Podium Witteman had become a fixture here at home.... 

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Fair Practice Awards for November Music and Black Pencil show how much there is still to be gained

Of course, we can continue to complain about the poor treatment of our artists, we can also approach it with a positive slant. That must have been the consideration of composers' interest group Nieuw Geneco when establishing the 'Fair Practice Awards'. On Friday 8 September, they were presented for the fourth time at Utrecht's TivoliVredenburg: prizes for commissioners who for once... 

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PR-beeld Yara's Wedding door HALIE

Asko|Schönberg opens season with full programme at home and abroad

Concerts and performances September 2023 Opening Gaudeamus Festival 2023 - 6 September This evening, Asko|Schönberg's programme is dedicated to transverse minds, composers who know how to break free from conventions and expectations. They play with our perception of time, challenge us to embrace microtonal intervals and integrate non-musical sounds into their dramaturgy. Music from... 

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Desire. Foto door Sofie Knijf

'Desire' is highlight of telling opening weekend of Theatre Festival Boulevard

"You can't say anything anymore either" is the title of a show by theatre friends George and Eran from Amsterdam-West. They have previously presented sensitive themes in a theatre form close to stand-up comedy, and so this programme is about the language battle. A language battle about which words are still appropriate, which stereotypes are still 'allowed' and... 

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'It's only rock and roll (but I like it).' Rolling Stones -Unzipped at the Groninger Museum

You Can't Always Get What You Want. After corona threw a spanner in the works in 2020 - the exhibition was on show for only four weeks - visitors will get a second chance to enjoy The Rolling Stones- Unzipped. In the meantime, legendary drummer Charlie Watts has died at the age of 80. The Groninger Museum is the last stop in... 

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Jamszoo, foto Marcel Veldman

'Blind' for non-existent soloist and ensemble - Asko|Schönberg, Slagwerk Den Haag & Jameszoo - Premiere 4 Oct, tour until 9 Nov

Jameszoo wanted to disappear from his music. That failed completely, he tells himself. But what a glorious failure. He developed an instrument that is not only self-playing, but also improvises and communicates with musicians playing live. They let the non-existent soloist challenge them to unpredictable musical playing. Electroacoustic wrestling Asko|Schönberg and Slagwerk Den Haag enter into a collaboration ... 

Read More "'Blind' for non-existent soloist and ensemble - Asko|Schönberg, Slagwerk Den Haag & Jameszoo - Premiere 4 Oct, tour until 9 Nov
John Zorn by Scott Irvine

November Music 2023 focuses on top and mid-career international creators - November 1 to 12 in 's-Hertogenbosch

This year, with the arrival of John Zorn, Barbara Hannigan, Jennifer Walshe, Rebecca Saunders, Simon-Steen Andersen, Tristan Murail, Oslo Sinfonietta, Jack Quartet and The Crossing, November Music opts for the absolute world's best. In addition, Dutch mid-career makers such as Aart Strootman, Maya Fridman, Rozalie Hirs, Kika Sprangers, Jameszoo and LudoWic will be given the chance to strike out with new, large-scale productions. With. 

Read More "November Music 2023 focuses on top and mid-career international creators - November 1 to 12 in 's-Hertogenbosch
CocoRosie - pr-beeld

CocoRosie live at Holland Festival: remarkably accessible and solid, and so is the festival itself

The Casady sisters, since they went through life together as CocoRosie in 2003, have developed a totally unique sound. Yesterday, they were guests at the Holland Festival, at the invitation of their friend ANOHNI. The latter, as associate artist, introduced this year's festival audience to the female and queer side of the New York art scene. CocoRosie are with... 

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Monk forces concentration with Indra's Net at Holland Festival

The dome of the imposing former Gashouder on the Westergasfabriek grounds turns out to offer excellent acoustics for music. There, last night, the premiere of Indra's Net, the latest composition by singer, director and filmmaker Meredith Monk, took place. Famous mainly in the United States, where she has been composing and performing minimal music for more than 50 years. Since 1978, together with her... 

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The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black-pr beeld

Holland Festival breaks fascinating new ground with old punk and Lithuanian rave.

Amy Winehouse is alive. Though perhaps we shouldn't call it life, as she stands in all her corpse-blue glory, looking bewildered at the audience in the Muziekgebouw for an hour. A bit like we know her from those tragic last concert recordings, where she was stiff with all the chemicals and liquid aids to perform a few last notes. She is now... 

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© Ahad Subzwari

Music can move, comfort and even heal the greatest traumas, the Holland Festival makes us feel

ANOHNI lived in Amsterdam for a year as a young child, in Gerrit van der Veenstraat, formerly Euterpestraat. The street where the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) had its headquarters during the war in what is now a nice school with a focus on art. Opposite was the building from which Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung organised the deportation of tens of thousands of Jews. The... 

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Sigur Ros - © Hörður Óttarsson

Sigur Rós overwhelms Concertgebouw with multi-layered magic music - HF23

The picture is immediate. Vast glaciated vistas, patches of fog and the twilight of a land where the sun rises only once a year. Something like that. And then that soaring music that in one long tone makes all air traffic redundant for at least a month. Beneath it the rumble of shifting earth plates. For the first time in 10 years, Sigur Rós made another... 

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Laurie anderson door Ebru Yildiz

Deep poignancy and plenty of humour with Laurie Anderson at Holland Festival

Laurie Anderson visited the Holland Festival for a third time and played to a sold-out Carré. With a five-piece Sexmob, a jazz combo from New York for the occasion, she performed well-known and lesser-known songs from her oeuvre spanning more than four decades. And every song felt like it was dear to her, with fresh, new arrangements of double bass and baritone ... 

Read More "Deep poignancy and plenty of humour with Laurie Anderson at Holland Festival
Brainwash Festival / Joy Hansson

Full houses for Catholic culture by Nick Cave and Herman Finkers

Christian cultural traditions, such as Catholicism, are in the doldrums. How do they get out? Whatever you call backgrounds in terms of gender, origin and beliefs, looking at them all positively helps, with compassion and humour; how beautiful and funny are all these different people and expressions! So I am now happy to write about two people who climbed the cultural ladder, and just... 

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Summer concerts New Notes Amsterdam in Plein Theatre

This summer, Plein Theater and Nieuwe Noten Amsterdam present three contemporary music concerts, and after the summer, again monthly on Sunday afternoons! On the weekend of 17 and 18 June, the concerts are part of New Music NOW's Day of the Composer. NEW NOTES AMSTERDAM New Notes Amsterdam provides a stage for contemporary chamber music. New compositions and leading musicians, in... 

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