Artstalk Radio Holland

We are back in Delft this week. We talk to Bram Stoeken, the organizer of the Jazz Festival. We also (at 5.20)talk to the owner of Artline a new contemporary art gallery in the town. There is also (at 10.35) a song from Rotterdam-based Portuguese singer songwriter Magda Mendes.

We have dedicated this week’s programme to one topic – the Delft Chamber Music Festival which this year celebrates its twenty fifth anniversary. The Festival has been under the artistic direction of violinist Liza Ferschtman since 2007 but now there is a new director, Nino Gvetadze, and we talk to her at the festival’s main venue, the Mandelazaal in Delft’s historic Prinsenhof.

COMEDY SPECIAL! It’s all about comedy this week. We have a guest in the studio, Stephen Grindle who is also known as Dingle Fingle and Baron von Grindle. He talks about life as an English clown living in Holland and after that (at 18.30 mins)Amsterdam based comedian Greg Shapiro reads the final excerpt from his book An American Netherlander 25 Years of Expat Tales.

The DELFT FRINGE FESTIVAL 2022 opens on 2nd June. We speak to the organizer Roel Funcken and (at 6.20 mins) to Robin Lie and Doortje Peters of the Tappin-It Collective about their show Doemsdee. We also (at 15.00 mins)talk to bass player, poet and performance artist Jonathan Nagel about is show Eventually and hear one of his tracks.

We talk to Ralph Remers and Emilia Moscovich of the new Amsterdam based English language theatre company Strike Me Pink and then (at 7.50 mins) to Brazilian dancer and choreographer SAMIR CALIXTO about his new company. Finally (at 17.40 mins)we are in Delft to talk to HELEEN VAN HAAFTEN about her new contemporary art gallery Artline.

We visit the VERMEER CENTRE in Delft and talk to LOUK VAN RIET. JONATHAN NAGEL (at 16.50 mins)is a double-bass player, poet and performance artist based in Amsterdam and we have a track from his new album entitled Eventually. Finally, GREG SHAPIRO (at 22 mins)reads more from his book THE AMERICAN NETHERLANDER – Twenty Five Years of Ex-Pat Tales.

We are at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam for the opening of the JOB, JORIS & MARIEKE animation exhibition and talk to JOB ROGGEVEEN. Brazilian dancer and choreographer SAMIR CALIXTO talks (at 6.30 mins)about his new work DIDO AENEAS US AND ALL which is currently on tour and (at 13.50 mins) SOUWIE BUIS talk to WENDY FOSSEN about the MUCHA exhibition at the Kunstmuseum in The Hague.

We talk to Anita Jansen, curator of the BRAM BOGART exhibition at the Museum Prinsenhof in Delft and (at 22 mins) there is a song from Canadian artist RONLEY TEPER

Souwie Buis talks to Wendy Fossen about the major PAULA REGO exhibition at Kunstmuseum in The Hague and GREG SHAPIRO reads from his book THE AMERICAN NETHERLANDER

This this week we are back in Delft to discover more about two painters from the city. Wendy Fossen talks to Alexandra Oostdijk, director of the wonderful Museum Paul Tetar Van Elven in the city’s Koornmarkt and (@ 12.40 mins)Louk Van Riet gives us a guided tour around the nearby Vermeer Centre

All about English language theatre in The Netherlands this week. We talk to MARK WINSTANLEY of the QUEENS ENGLISH THEATRE COMPANY and (at 7.20 mins) to RALPH REMERS and EMILIA MOSCOVICH of the new STRIKE ME PINK company about their first production. We also (at 14.30 mins)talk to MIEL VAN TEILINGEN of the Dutch NATIONAL THEATRE about English language theatre in Holland.

We are in Rotterdam for the opening of THE DEPOT, the storage facility of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and we talk to one of the architects and to the museum director. We are also (at 9.25 mins)at an exciting multi-media production of George Orwell's 1984 by the New European Ensemble at the Amare in The Hague and talk to the company's director.

We are at the opening of THE POTATO EATERS - MISTAKE OR MASTERPIECE at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. We talk to the show's curator Bregje Gerritse and to the museum's director Emilie Gordenker. We also (@9.30} have a song from Toronto based artist RONLEY TEPER, who we saw in The Hague a couple of years ago, from her new album EVERYONE LOVES A GOOD STORY.

We visit MUSEUM RIJSWIJK for the Textile Biennale and talk to the museum's director Arnaud Van Aalst. We were also at the opening of a remarkable exhibition of Canadian art at KUNSTHAL in Rotterdam. Finally, we are back in Delft and meet the organizers of KUNSTKAMER, in a private house which, for two weekends a year, becomes an art gallery

We talk to actors Loveday Smith and Mark Winstanley who act in and direct the new QE2 production of Alan Bennett's TALKING HEADS at the CC Amstel Theater in Amsterdam. We also talk to Miel van Teijlingen of the Dutch Royal National Theatre about presenting plays in English. Plus there's music from Belgian jazz multi-instrumentalist TCHA LIMBERGER.

Michael Hasted meets BERRY VISSER the man who brought Rock 'n' Roll to Holland when he organized the HOLLAND POP FESTIVAL of 1970 in Kralingen in Rotterdam. Plus (at 13 mins) we meet Dutch baritone THOMAS OLIEMANS who talks about his work in the world's great opera houses and on the concert stage.

Michael Hasted talks to violinist LIZA FERSCHTMAN outgoing director of the Delft Chamber Music Festival and to Delft's Deputy Mayor BAS VOLLEBREGT (at 14 mins 10) on the planned developments at Prinsenhof. There is also a song (at 22mins)from Canadian artist RONLEY TEPER. Photo by and(c) Ronald Knapp

We are at ART ROTTERDAM at the iconic Van Nelle Fabriek and talk to galleries Frank Taal, Contour, Zerp and Vriend Van Bavink. We then (at 11 mins) move on to The Hague and attend STET The English Theatre’s GREENHOUSE open air event at the beautiful Hofje Van Wouw. We speak to STET's artistic director Tome Dello and some of the performers. The image is Jalisco by Aldo van den Broek. Courtesy of Gallery Vriend Van Bavink in Amsterdam

Souwie Buis is at BEELDEN AAN ZEE museum in Scheveningen talking to curator LEANA JULIAN about the exhibition ITALIAN SUMMER in particular and about the museum in general. We also talk (@11mins15secs) to Portuguese singer/songwriter MAGDA MENDES, who lives in Rotterdam, and listen to some of the music from her current album OLIVEIRAS.

Michael Hasted talks to Scapino Ballet principal dancers MAYA ROEST and MISCHA VAN LEEUWEN about the RIDCC (Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition) which they organise. We then make the short journey to Schiedam to talk to artist FLORENTIJN HOFMAN about his incredible installation STADSCOCON (City Cocoon) which is at the Sint Janskerk.