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orchestra of the east

New annual figures show: THE Symphony Orchestra is virtually bankrupt

THE Symphony Orchestra is as good as bankrupt. The 2014 figures show that. So it is total nonsense that responsible minister Jet Bussemaker reported in her answers to questions by MP Jacques Monasch less than a month ago that the orchestra was well within the own income norm of 21.5%. Not only did she already use incorrect figures in her answers, now... 

Arnhem decides: who takes decisive lead in the battle of the orchestras?

Tonight, the Arnhem city council will take an important decision on the renovation of Musis Sacrum, the monumental concert hall located at a prominent point in the city. But the real news is not in what will be decided tonight, but in the far-reaching consequences. Musis Sacrum dates back to 1847 and is part of the cultural heritage. The venue complex is in dire need of refurbishment and with... 

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... 

Bussemaker gives Chamber incorrect figures HET Symfonieorkest

The acute financial problems at HET Symfonieorkest prompted Jacques Monasch to put questions to minister Bussemaker. Yesterday came the answers Bussemaker. In summary: everything is not too bad. Only: the minister is giving the Chamber the wrong figures. The minister relies on figures from Culture in focus 2014 and reports "The percentage of own income of HET Symfonieorkest was... 

Enschede plays library and museum against each other

Everything comes together in Enschede. Revenue models that appear to be based on air, but are defended to the hilt by administrators. Jubilant reports on rising museum visits, but smaller museums are going under. Aldermen acting out of cultural interests, but then playing residents against each other to make draconian decisions. All this to disguise the ruins of Rutte I. A quick recap:... 

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 to be... 

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... 

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, as 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... 

10 viral stories from Culture Press for 235,000 real readers

Always start with the good news. The Information Department of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science did a very good job in 2014. They sent one jubilant press release after another into the world. While there was actually hardly any good news to report. About culture. But because there are a lot of lazy journalists, good news often goes in a... 

Carlo Boszhard as a gnome: 3 reasons why 'Maestro' does suck

Tonight (Thursday 18 December), the second season of TV programme 'Maestro' will have its finale. Dutch celebrities such as schlager singer Frans Duijts and presenter Sylvana Simons try to conduct a symphony orchestra under supervision. They will be judged by conductor Otto Tausk, violinist Isabelle van Keulen and double bassist Dominic Seldis. Letter writers and columnists tumble over each other in condemning the programme. 'Maestro' would be a knee-jerk... 

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?

Drum roll...

Simply, the symphony orchestra. Or THE Symphony Orchestra. The Symphony Orchestra.

Not That Orchestra, which would have been a cool name, not 'that', 'this' or 'the', but it. Just 'an' would have been even more meaningless, but don't despair: it does turn out to stand for something...

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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.

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

Seizure of the instruments of the former Netherlands Symphony Orchestra is imminent. The orchestra, which has been banned from using the word "Dutch" since a lost legal battle with Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, is thus not allowed to sell instruments or take them abroad. Pending a countermove from the former Orchestra of the East, they changed the name there to ***** Symphony Orchestra.

Jan Willem De Vriend, conductor of the troubled Enschede-based orchestra, wrote this morning in ...

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Star. Five times. And then Symphony Orchestra.

Five-star Symphony Orchestra. This is how the Dutch Symphony Orchestra will be called next season. The former Orkest van het Oosten tried to become 'Dutch' but faced a lawsuit from the Philharmonic Orchestra, which was already 'Dutch'. 'Politics should get involved in the legal process. Because it can't go on like this. This is costing tons of money.' Says Harm Mannak.

[Tweet "Director throws symphony orchestra name up for grabs"]

The director of the former Orchestra of the Oo...

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NRC Next only half-checks: concert attendance does decline

It is even worse
Update following audience question. Wilmar de Visser, double bass player with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, thought he had seen other figures at OCW, but when we checked, those figures turned out to be even worse than we already suspected here. Since this is a breakdown on the classical and opera genre, here's the answer: "I checked, but you're throwing up your own glasses. The average number of visitors at opera and orchestras combined (because ...

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From Dutch to National and vice versa. DNO and NRO give lesson on name change and collaboration

A joint press conference by two companies. In the post-Zijlstra era, that often does not bode well. A merger then seems obvious, especially when it involves the two largest opera companies in our country: De Nederlandse Opera and the Nationale Reisopera. Only now we have to turn that around: the Netherlands Opera will become the National Opera. And the building will be called National Opera and Ballet.

A logical name change given the administrative merger of the Music Theatre, The Na...

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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.

'Only' 800 redundancies, but five thousand jobs will disappear.

For the trade unions, it is not too bad: because of the mega-cuts in art, 800 people are to be laid off. That is almost nothing compared to, say, the bankrupt Nedcar, where redundancies at one location are likely to be double or more. For the Ministry of OC&W, it's already a small celebration too, because this way the so-called 'friction costs' will be contained. And the sector itself, with its moaning and shouting, is of course back in the picture. It v...

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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.
To bring in an extra five tonnes, the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and the Gelderland Orchestra are pulling together. And with success: the provincial authorities of Overi...

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Orchestras in eastern Netherlands go slating

Nearly thirteen million The Gelderland Orchestra (HGO) asked for the province of Gelderland. It got three-and-a-half. Just enough to absorb the reduction in the state subsidy for the next two years and to work towards a new organisational structure and a new revenue model, as described in a very ambitious business plan, which...... wait a minute. We have already written about this, haven't we?

True. It is like two drops of water to our story about the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, the former Orkes...

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Amsterdam takes Netherlands Symphony Orchestra to court

We already wrote at length about the Orkest van het Oosten's name change to the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (NSO). The curious opera grant application based on a business plan that carries huge risks also had our full attention. Permanent partner the National Travel Opera was not amused.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra is also fighting the NSO. In the capital city, they think the Enschede orchestra's new name is very much like its own n...

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