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Halima El Ghamarti started her new job just before Corona: 'The new normal? That's my normal here.' (Podcast and video)

Barely three weeks into her job when the corona pandemic and lockdown came. So, for Halima el Ghamarti, who started as director of the Jongeren Cultuurhuis Kanaleneiland and Overvecht in mid-February, there is no other normal than the new normal: working from home, and doing so with an organisation whose main purpose is to connect young people in Utrecht with... 

Sound designer Richard Jansen created a very special soundtrack for hallucinatory German Three Sisters

'We did get quite a kick out of spectators at the beginning: "How dare you treat the actors like that? First you put a mask on them, then you steal their voices and make them playback!'' Richard Jansen couldn't care less. He is part of the creative team as sound designer 

Love & Revenge aims to reshape the Arab world

You take film classics like Dracula and Star Wars, track down their Arabic remakes, and edit these fragments on a live soundtrack that fuses Arabic pop history with electronic music of today. This, in short, is the recipe of the dynamic collaboration between musician Rayes Bek and video artist Randa Mirza, better known as Love & Revenge. With their compelling show,... 

Oui-Ja-Yes for more Games on stages. Before and-especially now-after the stage.

What is the similarity between recorder player Lucie Horsch, pianist Nynke Eekhof, oboist Dorine Schoon, singer Tim Akkerman, this Music Storyteller and many others. What binds them apart from the music? They open their mouths. Give an insight into life behind the scenes. By speaking out in newspapers (Eekhof and Akkerman), on platforms, within organisations and via blogs... 

When art is offered at such a high level, you can also expect value to be placed on it.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who made it possible for me to receive the Dutch Music Prize here today. Not only all the people who have helped me during the years of my trajectory and given me so much inspiration and motivation, but also everyone who has supported me from an early age in my... 

HOLLAND FESTIVAL ONLINE PROGRAMME 2.0-2.0

From 11 to 21 June, the Holland Festival will present an online programme as close as possible to the core and essence of the original programme, which was cancelled due to the corona crisis. Together with artists from around the world who were due to perform in the 2020 festival, an alternative online programme has been put together. The festival theme, suggested by... 

Mattijs van der Woerd hopes to sing again one day, but is especially happy that Splendor is making music again

Musicians' society Splendor has survived the corona crisis so far, despite the fact that the two halls could not be used, rehearsal rooms fell and the bar could not open. Mattijs van der Woerd, baritone, talks about it in our podcast/video. How can that be, such a small concert hall standing so strong? The secret, which also keeps Culture Press afloat, and which this month also... 

Why the art world, subsidised and commercial, must stop campaigning NOW

A few months ago, I reported via this site that Eurovision Song Contest wanted an orchestra to perform, for less than no money. The post, including follow-ups, was read just under a hundred thousand times, so can be assumed somewhat familiar. Yesterday, I received a press release from a rather expensive public relations agency, which the culture world took action on... 

'I don't see Le Guess Who happening on a grass field'. Johan Gijsen on postponement of critically acclaimed festival

'At the beginning of March we were still having a bit of a laugh about the virus, but a week later it became clear to me that we would be in serious trouble this year.' Johan Gijsen, director and founder of the Utrecht-based festival that brings together the most surprising artists from all genres of the international music world every November, is still visibly... 

Looking back: Mark Rutte thinks only 30 people want to be at art. Why an archive is important.

Culture Press is 11 years old, and I wanted to celebrate with a fun look at the archives. And then I came across this one. From 2011. Just watch this minute video and know that it is not to be expected that a prime minister can change his views one hundred and eighty degrees in 9 years. This is what the lobby needs to consider. What does Mark say... 

The Encounter, Complicit / Simon McBurney, photo: Alex Aitchison

Why you should listen to Simon McBurney with headphones on between 15 and 22 May

We are fairly bombarded to death with online theatre experiences. Frankly, I avoid them. I always thought theatre was something to be experienced live. Bobbing shoes are terrible, visible consumption when speaking is something I can't stand at the moment and the sound is always mediocre. I want live theatre, and nothing else. Leave TV to the TV makers, they have studied for that. Still... 

Audience, you have an asset!

Thanks to the informal fanfare, this music storyteller sees a mega opportunity. Trio The Big Three. That's what I want to talk about. By which, for once, I do not mean the Flemish Damiaan Denys, Paul Verhaeghe and Dirk de Wachter. Writers Harry, Gerard and Willem F. I also leave out. Ask the listeners of this Music Storyteller and they will surely know how to help you:.... 

Culture Press Tonapodcast (19): Willemijn Mooij had to cancel the Matthew Passion: 'Leading from a distance is hard for me'

'Last (Silent, ed.) Saturday we ventured out to dinner at friends', my husband and I once again. We were tired of just talking about Corona. Then we agreed to have a music night. We all work in classical music, but agreed to listen to precisely no classical music. It became a... 

J'Accuse - is Polanski's latest film about the Dreyfus case or the creator himself?

It is 1895. Colonel Georges Picquart (Jean Dujardin) has just been promoted, to his own surprise, to head the French army's intelligence service. To get rid of the sewer smell there, literally and figuratively, he frantically yanks on the window in the musty office. It won't open. A touching image in J'Accuse, one of the most talked-about films of this... 

Podcast in Times of Corona Silence (8): 'In the end, more than 1,000 people watched that video' - Deborah Jacobs on the silenced world of cover bands and village festivals

An online party with a few close friends, and that you then invite a musician to perform live there. It can be done, and Deborah Jacobs would think it a fantastic idea. The musician, music teacher and lyricist from Breda had just about got her act together when Corona struck. All at once, all performances were cancelled and the... 

A morale boost for when you're feeling down. Top 5 indie film streams from a true fan

Last week, my in-box and my social media feed were full of cancellations. Screenings, film festivals and museums: everything I was looking forward to or contributing to was cancelled or shelved. Understandable and sensible. But also maddening, and a loss of income for me and many others in the cultural sector. Still, there are things that... 

Alice in Wonderland as Virtual Reality theatre: can I stay down the rabbit hole for a while?

Sometimes you see something and only realise on the bike back how special it was. Wait a minute, the white rabbit was talking back? Humpty Dumpty was worried that I did catch it? Not only did I watch a Virtual Reality (VR) installation today, the installation looked back! Never before have I experienced a VR work in which I... 

Open letter from theatre directors: 'Spectators want human contact'

"Over the past year, we, Annemiek Lely and Susanne Visser, heard various noises about boring introductions and useless fringe programmes that would add nothing. Such comments pass the revue in the artist foyer, at the bar or find their way onto social media. 'I want after-shows led by a local presentation talent instead of a drawling dramaturge,' wrote an already established director 

No Time To Die? The New Cinema Conference is all about marketing - and hardly about Netflix.

What will shake up the cinema world the most in the coming years? The new James Bond film? Or a personal film tip tailored to your previous cinema visits that just pops up on your smartphone? Or perhaps a technical innovation that creates a whole new cinematic experience? Just a few things that loom around the topic of this week's New Cinema conference. A day and a half... 

Vacancy production manager and volunteer coordinator deBuren

There is currently a vacancy for a production manager and volunteer coordinator deBuren. We are looking for an enthusiastic, motivated and practical colleague for a variety of tasks. The Flemish-Dutch House deBuren promotes cultural and social cooperation and exchange between Flanders and the Netherlands by presenting, producing, inspiring and connecting. Spearheads of deBuren are Flemish-Dutch cooperation, talent development and diversity. As a house of... 

Walking Through The Walls: unique VR experience at the edge of the abyss, where dragons live.

Virtual Reality is taking off. On Friday 11 October at 15:00, you can experience the world premiere of the chilling Walking through the Walls, a totally immersive work made for the Oculus Go and MEZE AUDIO headset, together the most complete portable VR set available. The event takes place at Mediamatic in Amsterdam, in collaboration with Stichting... 

Zeitgeist and chance cannot be captured by an algorithm. Why a robot should not replace the music programmer.

Last Wednesday, 2 October, at the annual congress of the Vereniging Nederlandse Poppodia en Festivals in Tivoli/Vredenburg, I saw an interesting presentation by Jonas Kiesekoms, research coordinator at PXL-Music in Hasselt, Belgium, and musician. The question is now classic: can a robot replace the music programmer? With his research group, Kiesekoms is working on several applications that use data science to improve ticket sales for concerts,... 

Jeremy Dutcher on Amsterdam Roots: 'I think we can expect something very beautiful in the generations to come, as long as we keep singing our songs.'

It is, so in his normal clothes, a cheerful, spontaneous guy who walks up to me in the hotel lobby where we have arranged to meet. Jeremy Dutcher the Canadian singer who is one of the main guests at this year's Amsterdam Roots festival, hardly shows any traces of the jet lag he must have undoubtedly sustained from his flight, which took off a few hours earlier... 

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