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jan willem the friend

Programmer to talk: Astrid in 't Veld's dream season

When you go to a concert, you think about the music, the ensemble, the soloist and/or the conductor. Maybe you look up something about the composer but you never think about the programmer who made the concert possible. Astrid in 't Veld is someone who thinks about the range of concerts on offer years in advance in order to help you with... 

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.

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... 

Masses in the Kloosterkerk (photo Christiaan de Roo)

Mozart, Kortjakje and the princess

Last weekend 250 years ago, nine-year-old Mozart arrived in The Hague with his parents and sister Nannerl. He arrived on 11 September 1765 to perform at the stadholder court. Due to illness, the Mozarts ended up staying for nine months and the young composer wrote several works here. Harpsichordist and conductor Jörn Boysen organised the festival Mozart in The... 

Good news from Enschede: magical Orphée et Eurydice by Reisopera

After all the misery surrounding HET Symfonieorkest, the premiere of Orphée et Eurydice last night (1 May) at the Wilminktheatre was a breath of fresh air. Defying all worries, the Nederlandse Reisopera realised a shimmering performance, which was rightly rewarded with a minute-long ovation. With magical colour fields, slow-motion movements and mysterious shadow play, director Floris Visser brought the timeless love drama to life. A must-see for... 

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... 

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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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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Nederlandse Reisopera with a musical. With Sanne Wallis de Vries. In Royal Theatre Carré.

Nee, bang voor concurrentie is het gezelschap niet. Voor samenwerking evenmin, getuige de juichend ontvangen Fairy queen met Veenfabriek en Combattimento, het orkest dat tot voor kort geleid werd door Jan Willem de Vriend.
Combattimento? Dat orkest zou er toch mee ophouden?
Daar leek het inderdaad even op toen Jan Willem de Vriend bekend maakte zich te willen richten op het Nederlands Symfonieorkest, maar zonder haar oprichter maakte het orkest een succesvolle doorstart. Net als de Reisopera, di...

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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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'Ajax states' in sudden war between Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and National Travel Opera

This week, the National Travel Opera begins rehearsals of Mozart's Le nozze di figaro. In the bin, the brand-new Netherlands Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jan Willem de Vriend. Business as usual, as the two companies have been working closely together for years and are united in the National Music Quarter Enschede. Only: orchestra and opera company have not been talking to each other since last week.

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