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Ed Spanjaard is the ideal new leader of the Orchestra of the East

After it was announced in January this year that Jan Willem de Vriend was leaving at the end of the 2016/2017 season, the Orchestra of the East announced that it was in no hurry to find a successor. One would start working with "renowned guest conductors". Just over six months later, a few months before the departure of interim director Bart van Meijl, a successor was still presented. That this successor, Ed Spanjaard, is given the title of 'permanent conductor' seems mainly a semantic issue.

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Guaranteeing: the new way of subsidising.

The Orchestra of the East is allowed half a million in red. That is the outcome of the 'Urban Commission' in Enschede. In a fortnight, the city council will formally take the decision, but with the commitment of a large majority, any debate will be wasted time then and the proposal would be better added to the list of hammer pieces immediately. That would have taken a month... 

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De Vriend leaves Orchestra of the East, former chief Van Zweden new boss New York Philharmonic

It is not often that Norman Lebrecht, author of the globally widely read blog Slipped Disc, covers conductors of the Orchestra of the East two days in a row. First on the departure of principal conductor Jan Willem de Vriend, then on the appointment of former principal conductor Jaap van Zweden to the world-famous New York Philharmonic. Naturally, Lebrecht brought both... 

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Musicians pay to save their orchestra. TV programme Maestro helps a little.

The Orchestra of the East is cutting its coat of arms, focusing primarily on Overijssel and has applied for collective redundancy. This - and a whole lot more - can be read in the new business plan. It is enough for the province to release a one-off €1.1 million and make 3.5 tonnes of annual subsidy available again from now on. The... 

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Orchestra of the East reinstated: HET Symphony Orchestra has 'new' name

From Dutch Symphony Orchestra with international ambitions back to provincial orchestra with as yet nothing at all. Now, except for the ironclad original name. It could be a commercial for Telfort. In between are many lost court cases, the grotesque protest name *****Symphony Orchestra and the equally garish HET Symphony Orchestra. It is the ultimate capitulation of the once by just about everything and everyone... 

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The disaster surrounding the eastern orchestras only intensifies. A reconstruction

A damning report by organisational consultancy Berenschot, the voluntary or involuntary departure of director Harm Mannak, repeated bickering in the State Assembly and panting reports of high salaries for directors and artistic directors, all the way to the national newspapers. It marks the chaos at HET Symfonieorkest and the lack of any form of direction, not only at the orchestra itself,... 

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HET Symphony Orchestra director steps down - just before scathing report on business plan

Failing directors stay put, the Supervisory Board disqualifies itself. No other conclusion is possible after reading the counter-expertise commissioned by the province of Overijssel and carried out by Berenschot. The provincial millions intended to make the orchestra subsidy-independent have not only evaporated, but show a negative balance in every aspect. Every estimate was too optimistic,... 

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HET Symphony Orchestra won't get its 2016 budget done

THE Symphony Orchestra does not have a balanced budget for 2016. Without additional money from the province, it can no longer perform its core task, nor can it fulfil all the commitments it made earlier. That is the gist of the letter CDA deputy commissioner Hester Maij sent to Provincial Council, ahead of its meeting on 7 October. The subject of the letter: "progress business plan/redemption subsidy HET Symfonieorkest".... 

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Chamber listens to culture sector. And hears nothing new.

Five hours of talks with more than 30 invited guests. That's what the Round Table discussion on the 'Principles of Cultural Policy 2017-2020' offered. There was hardly any debate. It consisted mainly of repeating one's own views, but very carefully so as not to offend anyone. The chairman mainly watched the clock. The debate in five quotes. "How do we do it? Very simple: about the... 

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No new merger orchestras, no merger Reisopera and Opera Zuid

Bussemaker invests 18 million in the arts and a symphony orchestra for pop and jazz added. It seems too good to be true. And so it is. Because in return for that one extra orchestra, two other orchestras will be cut. At least, that's how the minister's letter can easily be read. That's how I read it too, at least. Currently... 

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Crisis at The Symphony Orchestra only gets worse thanks to fact-free politics

HET Symfonieorkest's financial problems have not gone unnoticed. Regional newspaper Tubantia reported last Monday that PvdA MP Jacques Monasch had minister Jet Bussemaker (also PvdA) summoned to the Lower House. In that report, Monasch passes with seven-mile boots advice, applications and decisions that have already been made or are yet to come, and immediately reports that a symphony orchestra will continue beyond 2017... 

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Supervisory failure at HET Symphony Orchestra: drama that could have been avoided

The money at HET Symphony Orchestra has run out. Despite all the extra millions from the province and after years of writing off tons of general reserves, the end is in sight. And so the orchestra is scrapping concerts, will be seen less in theatres in Deventer and Zwolle, stops CD recordings and shuns any risky performances. To keep the... 

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Bicycle shed gives way to redundant office of The Symphony Orchestra

650,000 euros. The municipality of Enschede is prepared to lend that amount to HET Symfonieorkest. Not for a special cultural project in the city, no, for a renovation. Not surprising, since municipalities, after all, prefer to invest in bricks and mortar rather than culture. But in this case, we are talking about very special bricks. According to director Harm Mannak, the barely used bicycle shed needs to be converted into a... 

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Orchestra finds name: the HET The Symphony Orchestra

Hooray! We have a new name. Nederlands Symfonieorkest was not allowed, *****Orkest everyone thought was a joke and reverting to the perfect name Orkest van het Oosten is not possible, because loss of face. What then?
Drumroffel…
Gewoon, het symfonieorkest. Of HET Symfonieorkest. Het Symfonieorkest.
Niet Die Orkest, wat wel een coole naam geweest zou zijn, niet 'dat', 'dit' of 'de', maar het. Alleen 'een' was nog nietszeggender geweest, maar wanhoopt niet: het blijkt wel ergens voor te staan: herke...

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Symphony orchestra seeks name. All suggestions are welcome.

Suddenly they are gone: the Dutch Symphony Orchestra's twitter account and facebook page. Searching for the new ***** name also yields nothing. Must have something to do with all sorts of lawsuits. But if you type in nederlandssymfonieorkest.nl, you happily end up at symfonieorkest.nl. Incidentally, if you type in orkestvanhetoosten.nl, that's also where you end up.

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Director sues own orchestra to death

Het was groot nieuws. Het ene orkest legt beslag op de instrumenten van het andere. Alleen het klopt niet. Net zoals veel niet blijkt te kloppen in de brief van dirigent Jan Willem de Vriend in de Volkskrant van afgelopen donderdag.
Omdat wij de orkestenruzie tussen het Nederlands Philharmonisch en het Nederlands Symfonisch al een tijdje nauwgezet volgen, wisten wij al dat De Vriend met zijn uitspraak, dat het juridisch gezien nu 2-2 tussen beide orkesten stond, niet de waarheid sprak. Het staat...

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Orchestra war escalates: Enschede's star orchestra has to hand in instruments

Er dreigt beslag op de instrumenten van het voormalige Nederlands Symfonie Orkest. Het orkest, dat sinds een verloren juridische strijd met Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest het woord 'Nederlands' niet meer mag gebruiken, mag dus geen instrumenten verkopen of naar het buitenland meenemen. Hangende een tegenzet van het voormalige Orkest van het Oosten veranderde men daar de naam in ***** Symfonieorkest.
Jan Willem De Vriend, dirigent van het geplaagde orkest uit Enschede, schreef vanmorgen  in een...

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Star. Five times. And then Symphony Orchestra.

Vijfsterren Symfonieorkest. Zo gaat het Nederlands Symfonieorkest volgend seizoen heten. Het voormalige Orkest van het Oosten probeerde 'Nederlands' te worden, maar kreeg een rechtszaak aan de broek van het Philharmonisch Orkest, dat al 'Nederlands' was.  'De politiek moet zich met de rechtsgang gaan bemoeien. Want zo kan het niet langer. Dit kost bakken met geld.' Aldus Harm Mannak.
[Tweet "Directeur gooit naam symfonieorkest te grabbel."]
De directeur van het voormalige Orkest van het Oosten i...

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Dutch Symphony Orchestra loses lawsuit and name

We already wrote about  the name change of the Orchestra of the East into the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (NedSym). The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (NedPho) was not amused and felt that the Enschede-based orchestra was infringing its trademark and trademark rights and demanded that the orchestra choose a different name. Summary proceedings followed and in April 2012 the court ruled that the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra could only not use the abbreviation NedSO, but did not have to change its name.

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Is Jan Willem de Vriend naive, or is he blatantly lying?

 We have already written at length about the Ajax situation in Enschede: orchestra and opera are at odds over an unexpected opera subsidy application by the orchestra. Startled by the ensuing commotion, some of those involved have since responded. It's just a damn shame that those reactions are not aligned.

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Eastern orchestras settle 40% rebate on musicians' salaries and union is sidelined

[recap] Om maar niet te hoeven fuseren én ieder een half miljoen extra binnen te halen, maakten de orkesten in Overijssel en Gelderland zeer ambitieuze plannen. Die opvallende overeenkomsten vertonen. Beide orkesten vroegen en kregen daarop geld van de provincie, zij het veel minder dan gevraagd. In theorie zou daarmee de korting op de rijkssubsidie opgevangen worden, maar dat provinciale geld is vooral bedoeld om de organisatie te hervormen. Daarvoor is het echter niet genoeg. Bij lange na niet...

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How two orchestras sold an international revenue model as regional

Recap: There are too many orchestras in the Netherlands, the government thinks, and so a few have to go. Or merge. Now that forced merging doesn't seem to go very heartily. But you can make money out of it. In Gelderland and Overijssel, this leads to bizarre scenes. It would have been comical if it hadn't cost so much money.
Om vijf ton extra binnen te kunnen halen, trekken het Nederlands Symfonie Orkest en het Gelders Orkest één lijn. En met succes: de provinciale overheden van Overij...

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Orchestras in eastern Netherlands go slating

Bijna dertien miljoen vroeg Het Gelders Orkest (HGO) aan de provincie Gelderland. Het kreeg drie-en-een-half. Precies genoeg om de korting op de rijkssubsidie de komende twee jaar op te vangen en toe te werken naar een nieuwe organisatiestructuur en een nieuw verdienmodel, zoals omschreven in een zeer ambitieus businessplan, dat…… wacht even. Hier hebben we toch al over geschreven?
Klopt. Het lijkt als twee druppels water op ons verhaal over het Nederlands Symfonie Orkest, het voormalig Orkest v...

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Amsterdam takes Netherlands Symphony Orchestra to court

We schreven al uitvoerig over de naamsverandering van het Orkest van het Oosten in het Nederlands Symfonie Orkest (NSO). Ook de merkwaardige operasubsidieaanvraag gebaseerd op een businessplan dat enorme risico’s in zich draagt had onze volle aandacht. Vaste partner de Nationale Reisopera was not amused.

Inmiddels bindt ook het Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest de strijd met het NSO aan. In de hoofdstad vinden ze dat de nieuwe naam van het Enschedese orkest wel heel erg op de eigen naam lijkt....

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