ArtsTalk Radio Holland

Pep Rosenfeld, American comedian and founder of the Amsterdam comedy mecca Boom Chicago, talks to Michael Hasted about the venue and about his book Work, Laugh, Balance.

We talk to Chief Executive Roel Beeftink-Funcken and Artistic Director Tamara Griffioen of the DELFT FRINGE FESTIVAL and we visit the DELFT TOBACCO MUSEUM plus there's a tune from the jazz trio STEEL SHEEP

We talk to GREG SHAPIRO about his Saving the Climate one-man show and to TONY ADIGUN director of the English Avant Garde Dance Company who is one of the judges for the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition – the RIDCC. And we have a tune from the ERWIN BEIJERSBERGEN TRIO

MICHAEL RAEDECKER is a Dutch artist who has lived and worked in London for the past 25 year. A major retrospective of his work has just opened at the Kunstmuseum in The Hague and we have an exclusive interview with him. We also visit the VERMEER CENTRE in Delft and have a guided tour from Louk van Riet. To play us out there is a track from the excellent AMSTERDAM KLEZMER BAND

We are live at Art Rotterdam at the iconic Van Nellefabriek. We talk to artists and galleries including A Modest Show gallery from Manchester and to Ali Keles of Lakeside Collection about art made entirely from bees. We meet artists Eric Mangen who was showing at Valerius Gallery from Luxembourg and to Daan Den Houter who shows at the Frank Taal Gallery in Rotterdam. We finish with a song from Rotterdam-based Portuguese singer-songwriter Magda Mendes.

We talk to Nicole Beutler of NICOLE BEUTLER PROJECTS about her new show, ATMEN, and to WENDY FOSSEN about THE HAGUE SCHOOL CHILDREN exhibition at the PANORAMA MESDAG MUSEUM in The Hague. Plus a tune from the AMSTERDAM CELLO OCTET

We talk to Job Chajes of the excellent AMSTERDAM KLEZMER BAND and we play a track from one of their albums. QETC's new production at the end of November is a double bill at the CC Amstel Theater in Amsterdam, (at 5mins30) we talk to director Mark Winstanley. Finally, (at 12.00)we meet Ali Keles whose LAKESIDE COLLECTION of fine art can be seen in THE DEPOT in Rotterdam. The music from The Klezmer band is at 21mins40. Photo of the Amsterdam Klezmer band by SUSANA MARTINS

An American theme for this programme. We talk to Erwin Beijersbergen of the ERWIN BEIJERSBERGEN TRIO about their tribute to the great American jazz pianist with their new album A TOUCH OF BILL EVANS. And we are in The Hague to meet CHRISTOPHER MULLEN whose newly open ACME STUDIOS specializes in old typewriters and anything to do with them.

We meet CHLOE ROOKE a young English lady who will soon be conducting a concert with the prestigious Residentie Orkest at the Amare in The Hague and we talk(at 7mins20) to video artist JIYAN DÜYÜ about her installation at the Lakeside Collection in The Depot in Rotterdam. We are at the Korzo Theater in The Hague (at 10mins25)to talk to MICHAEL ZANDL about his installation Pices of a Mind which is on during Cirque Mania. Finally (at 15mins40) we play a track from the MERAL POLAT TRIO.

We are in Delft, at the Museum Prinsenhof, where an exhibition has just opened pairing the work of local artist Jan Schoonhoven and German photographer Lothar Wolleh. We speak to the show's curator, Antoon Melissen. English actress Claire Worland, lives in Rotterdam and she has just produced her first play, Samuel Beckett's Happy Days at the Branoul Theatre in The Hague. Plus we have She's Leaving Home from the Amsterdam Cello Octet's Sgt Pepper's Lonely Cello Band album.

We talk to CHLOE ROOKE, a young English conductor who lives and works in Holland who is conducting Mozart's LA FINTA GIARDINIERA at the AMARE concert hall in The Hague. We are at MUSEUM RIJSWIJK (at 8.00 mins) where their Textile Biennale has just opened and we speak to its curator. Rotterdam-based Portuguese singer-songwriter MAGDA MENDES is currently on tour and (at 14.20)we speak to her and hear a song that features in the show. Photo of Chloe Rooke by and © Agnete Schlichtkrull

We talk to Scapino Ballet dancer Misha van Leeuwen about the ROTTERDAM INTERNATIONAL DUET CHOREOGRAPHY COMPETITION (RIDCC) and (at 7.14 mins)Souwie Buis talks to Yke Prins of the PULCHRI STUDIOS in The Hague on the occasion of the current LANGE VERHOUT MONUMENTAL open-air sculpture exhibition. Plus (at 11.00 mins)a song from Ronley Teper.

It's all about festivals this week. Nicole Beutler of the Amsterdam based theatre company Nicole Beutler Projects talks about Gluck's opera Orpheus and Eurydice which she is directing for the Festival Classique in Scheveningen and (at 9.00mins)we meet Roel Beeftink-Funcken, director of the Delft Fringe Festival. We also meet (at 17.00mins) Michael Zandl whose installation A Piece of Mind was at the Korzo Theater in The Hague during the recent CaDance Festival. We end (at 22.00mins) with a track from Cello Octet Amsterdam's new album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Cello Band.

We are at THEATER PEPIJN in The Hague for an ENGLISH COMEDY NIGHT and talk to comedians Greg Shapiro, Mohna Joshi, Luana Elena Matei, Weina Ma and to the show's producer from the Diligentia, Vera Papilaja. We meet author NICCI FRENCH (at 10mins)whose new book, "Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?" has just been published in The Netherlands. We finish (at 20.30 mins)with Delft based Trio Beijersbergen playing the Miles Davis classic "Four".

Something for almost everyone in this programme. We talk to dancer Mischa van Leeuwen of Scapino Ballet about the show he is currently on tour with, DE SPRONG VAN NIJINSKY. We also pay a visit (@ 8mins40)to The Dome at the Meseon-Omniversum in The Hague to see the amazing RECOMBINATION -THE FULLDOME JOURNEY and talk to its creator Julius Horsthuis. And (@ 13mins30)we talk to two members of the Amsterdam-based English language theatre company Strike Me Pink about their new production CALAMUS.

As Vermeer is all over the news at the moment we are back in Delft – but not discussing the old master. We visit the contemporary art galleries in the city and talk to the owners. We are at Artline, Galerie Ruimte Remmelink (at 5mins), Art Jacobs(at 8.40 mins), Kunstkamer (at 13 mins) and Galerie de Zaal (at 17 mins). All of them are right in the centre of town and all show an eclectic mix of high quality art.

We are concentrating on the numerous Vermeer exhibitions taking place at the moment. We have interviews with art historian Wendy Fossen summarizing the different events and with the curator of the exhibition Vermeer's Delft which is at the Museum Prinsenhof. We are also at the Vermeer Centre in Delft having a guided tour and also talking to René Jacobs, a local artist who takes much of his inspiration from Vermeer. Finally we talk to Emlyn Stam, Artistic Director of the New European Ensemble about Metamorfosen, a multi-media concert at The Hague's Kunstmuseum inspired by the work of M C Escher

For this programme we are in The Hague. We talk to Emlyn Stam, Artistic Director of the New European Ensemble about Opera2Day's new Don Quixote opera. We are also at Museum Panorama Mesdag (@ 7.35 mins)with art historian Wendy Fossen of Casa dell'Arte discussing the largely forgotten Dutch artist Suze Robertson and we have some music (@ 22.30 mins)from the Meral Polat Trio

Wendy Fossen is with us again this week showing us around the MANHATTAN MASTERS exhibition at the Mauritshuis in The Hague and we have music (at 10.00mins) from A TOUCH OF BILL EVANS, the new album by Delft-based Trio Beijersbergen

The programme this week is dedicated to the AMALIA, AMBITION WITH ALLURE exhibition. We are at Museum Prinsenhof in Delft where art historian Wendy Fossen gives a tour of the exhibition and a short lesson in Dutch history. To play us out (at 19.12 mins) we have a song from Netherlands-based Kurdish band, the MERAL POLAT TRIO

We are at the CC Amstel Theater in Amsterdam to see QETC's production of hit musical CABARET and talking (at 11.00 mins) to its director MARK WINSTANLEY. We also have an interview with world-wide, best-selling author NICCI FRENCH and we finish (at 16,00 mins)with a song from Canadian singer/songwriter and performance artist RONLEY TEPER.

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 his 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 talks 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.

Souwie Buis discusses artist FRIDA KAHLO with art historian and author Karin Haanappel and (at 14.00 mins)talks with Yke Prins about the open-air sculpture exhibition in The Hague's Lange Voohout curated by PULCHRI STUDIO

Michael Hasted talks to ROEL FUNCKEN, the director of the DELFT FRINGE FESTIVAL, about the online 2021 version and (@ 17mins) Amsterdam-based comedian GREG SHAPIRO reads the final excerpt from his book THE AMERICAN NETHERLANDER -25 YEARS OF EXPAT TALES. Plus (@ 10mins55) there is music from the excellent multi-national instrumental trio STEEL SHEEP from their appearance in Delft during the 2019 Festival.

Amsterdam based comedian GREG SHAPIRO reads the third extract from his book THE AMERICAN NETHERLANDER, 25 YEARS OF EXPAT TALES. This week he tells us more about the early days of the Amsterdam comedy venue BOOM CHICAGO and some of the comedians who have appeared there. SOUWIE BUIS has been busy again and (@12.20) she talks to Spanish artist DAVID MAROTO, who lives in Rotterdam, about his book-related work and projects. Photo shows David Maroto during his performance Not All of Me Will Die on 17th April 2021 at Index, The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm. Photo: Marti Manen

We visit GALERIE ART JACOBS in Delft and talk to artist RENE JACOBS about his eccentric and eclectic work plus (@19.30mins)Amsterdam-based American comedian GREG SHAPIRO reads a second instalment of his book THE AMERICAN NETHERLANDER, 25 YEARS OF EXPAT TALES, this time talking about BOOM CHICAGO the comedy venue in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam based American comedian GREG SHAPIRO is a familiar figure on the Dutch comedy circuit. His third book, THE AMERICAN NETHERLANDER, 25 YEARS OF EXPAT TALES was written during the months of Corona lock-down when all live performance venues were closed. Greg has been reading extracts from the book exclusively for ArtsTalk Radio. Also, (@ 12.30 mins)SOUWIE BUIS talks to art historian WENDY FOSSEN of Casa Dell'Arte about female artists in general and those at the Rijksmuseum in particular.

This week we have another short story by ATA BURCHARDT called THE MOUSE COAT preceded by a short interview with the author who lives in Delft. The story is read by National Theatre actress Cait Davis. Two young sisters are growing up in poverty in the ruins of post WW2 Europe. They only have their ingenuity and resourcefulness with which to amuse themselves. The willful elder of the two has a special project involving the mice which overrun their house . . . SOUWIE BUIS (@ 14mins) talks to WENDY FOSSEN of Casa dell’Arte about the KUNSTMUSEUM in The Hague.

Souwie Buis is with WENDY FOSSEN of Casa dell'Arte at the MAURITSHUIS in The Hague talking about the exhibition FLEETING - SCENTS IN COLOUR which is all about smell. Michael Hasted (@16.30)talks to LOUK VAN RIET at the VERMEER CENTRE in Delft plus (@12.40) there's a song from RONLEY TEPER

A mother and her two small daughters struggle for survival in the chaos of post World War Two central Europe. They are taken off a train, along with two nuns, and held by Russian soldiers at the border between Austria and Germany. The reading, by National Theatre actress Cait Davis, is preceded by a short interview with the author who lives in Delft.

The best music from ArtsTalk Radio featuring Steel Sheep, Tcha Limberger Ronley Teper, Magda Mendes, Erwin Beijersbergen and Luiz, Devil Makes 3 and Thomas Oliemans.

LILIAN is a play for radio by Polish composer and writer Kasia Glowicka who lives in The Hague. Based on real events it tells the story of a Dutch professor who is contacted by Tesfay, a refugee trapped in a camp in Libya. Barbed Wire Sunset photo by and © Rick van Helden