As every year, the university medical center Erasmus MC public lecture 'Praise of Medicine' took place on the first Friday of October, in de Doelen in Rotterdam. This time the theme was 'The consulting room of the future'. Three top scientists from Erasmus MC talked about the challenges facing healthcare in the future, and shared their ideas for possible solutions. Just like previous years, the circus, music and dance students of Codarts provided impressive performances in between the presentations. Codarts is therefore proud of this wonderful collaboration, which each year adds something special to the event.
Sophie Nakou is a talented vocalist, composer, and vocal coach with a rich and diverse musical background. After initially exploring pop and jazz, her passion shifted towards Latin American music during her studies in Barcelona. She further honed her skills at Codarts, diving deep into the Afro-Cuban and Brazilian musical traditions, enriching her repertoire with influences from bolero, son Cubano, Nueva trova, and timba. Sophie has a unique vocal style, full of emotional depth and vulnerability, which has captivated audiences at prestigious events like the North Sea Jazz Festival, Music Meeting Festival, De Doelen World Music Festival, and Dias Latinos Festival. She currently leads her own group, "Nakumba!", and is preparing to release her debut album. In Sophie's own words: “I am a vocalist and performer who feels passionate about exploring the human singing voice and the music that exists around the world. I work closely with musicians of the Latin and Brazilian jazz music scene. Moreover, I love teaching and helping people find their voice and explore their potential!”
“ It is a unique opportunity to combine my passion for talent development, the power of culture, and the strategic challenges of a changing world." He continues: “Young people from around the world come to Rotterdam with their dreams and ambitions. They take the plunge, they have to courage to reveal their most intimate self and develop themselves to reach their full potential. That process of talent development is one of the most beautiful aspects of my work. At the same time, there is the challenge of helping Codarts move forward as an organisation in a constantly changing world. My economic perspective on the world plays an important role in this.” He cites the music industry as an example. “Record companies used to lead the way, but now we see streaming services setting the tone. “It can be complicated for a starting artist to get their foot in the door,” he explains. “How we experience culture is mainly determined by large international companies. That shift also affects how we teach and prepare artists. They not only have to master their profession, but also need to be resilient and multidisciplinary, so they can relate well to the changing world in which they find themselves.” Tell a convincing story “We see that the cultural sector is under constant pressure,” explains the newly minted board president. The uncoordinated cultural policy of the new Dutch government threatens to wreak havoc in the arts and culture sector. The proposed cuts in higher education and research, and a reduction in the number of international students have a major impact on our capacity to innovate and our view of the outside world.” He continues: “I believe that as an education and culture sector we should jointly focus on the long-term perspective: how do we want to organise our society, who do we want to be? Do we give the new generation the opportunity to relate to the challenges they face? It’s our responsibility to prevent the further erosion of the creative and intellectual wealth of these sectors and strengthen these for the future. We must take a strong stand; we have to keep making a convincing case; not only during elections or budget cuts. Culture, education and research are the foundation that connects us and are invaluable." A wealth of experience David brings a wealth of experience to his new role as president of the executive board. He has always worked at the intersection of strategy and organizational development in the cultural sector and served as a financial director in an SME for more than 15 years. In addition, he has held various supervisory roles, such as at the Melkweg and IFFR, and he has coached directors and supervisors. “I have always been close to the board, but it’s a completely different experience to now be the one in charge. “I actually have to make it happen now,” he says. In addition to all his professional experience, David is also a musician; he plays piano, guitar and bass. A culture of openness His main priority right now is to ensure that responsibility within Codarts is put in the hands of those professionals who are best able to bear that responsibility. “This is about how we can best support our teachers and staff. “They have the greatest influence on the lives of our future artists and we must give them the space to do this the best way they can,” he explains. “Step one is to place responsibility where it belongs.” The next step is to create a culture of openness, energy and courage. “We must be able to call each other on things, inspire each other and take the next steps together.” David adds: “All this in a safe and stable environment, which fosters innovation and talent development. Codarts has experienced a lot of unrest recently and my goal for the coming months is to create clarity as quickly as possible. We need to be honest with each other and make decisions that bring financial stability. From that stability we will build the long-term vision that we create together. So: what do we want to have achieved in 5 or 10 years? We then look back from there and decide what steps we need to take to get there. The proposed merger with the Willem de Kooning Academy and the promising future of Cultuur & Campus is a wonderful prospect that can consolidate our strength and at the same time help us to develop more broadly and profile ourselves for the new generation of students.” Making connections inside and outside Codarts David has only been at Codarts for a few weeks and has to get to know everyone and everything in a short period of time. “In the meantime, the organisation also needs to get to know me and as an Executive Board team we need to make decisions about how we will proceed. It’s a challenge to make these connections and follow through in a short period of time.” While he is busy making connections within the organisation, David also looks outwards at the city that is so important to Codarts. “The relationship with Rotterdam is essential and I want to deepen that. Codarts is already firmly entrenched in the city's urban fabric and everyone who works here has a connection with Rotterdam. But we could do a lot more.” David is thinking of strategic partnerships with the Doelen, Theater Rotterdam and the Hiphophuis, just to name a few examples. “We can make the Kruisplein and Schouwburgplein flourish!” he says enthusiastically. “I would love to open all the windows of our building so that everyone can see what we do here and want to be part of us. I want Codarts to become a place that everyone refers to as: “That's the place to be, that's where it happens.” A dream come true The same ambition also applies to the energy within the organisation. “The ultimate goal is to make working here a lot of fun,” says David. “We want our employees to think on Sunday evening: 'Tomorrow I get to go back to work again!' Of course, it doesn't always have to feel like that, but the common denominator should be that we work with a lot of energy and inspiration, and that we are happy with everything that happens around us.” Working at Codarts is a dream come true for David. “The fact that I come in here in the morning and see someone walking into a room with a cello on their back... “The realisation that this is my job – to relate to these people who will hopefully develop their own story here – that's fantastic,” he says proudly. “The fact that I can contribute with my role and really make a difference, make an impact based on my vision – it almost doesn’t get any better than that.”
During the 2024-2025 academic year, various ensembles from Codarts Classical Music will perform live at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). They will accompany a selection of short films curated by the festival. The music for these short films has been specially composed by students from Codarts' Master’s Screening programme, under the guidance of coach Han Otten. The live performances will take place at the beautiful LantarenVenster venue in Rotterdam South. Conducting students will lead the rehearsals and performances, after participating in a film music conducting workshop in the months leading up to the project. IFFR 2025 will be held from 30 January to 9 February 2025 at various locations around Rotterdam. For more information, visit www.iffr.com .
This time, the central focus was on fanfare Wilhelmina from Numansdorp. This orchestra, which has produced several professional musicians, worked with students from the brass, saxophone, and percussion departments in the morning. They gave workshops that covered both technical skills and musical expression. In this way, participants discovered a new approach to rehearsing and playing together. After the workshops, a presentation concert took place at 12:30. The brass ensemble opened with a performance, followed by a concert of the saxophone class. Next, the 45-piece fanfare took over, performing original fanfare music by composers including Paul Gilson. Two Codarts students, Diogo Carvalho (bass trombone) and Jemma Bartlet (saxophone), then gave impressive solos. This successful afternoon highlighted the value of the ‘Day of the Fanfare’ in inspiring both students and amateurs. Thanks to this event, we are left wanting more in the future!
The Keuzegids is an independent consumer guide that judges and compares the quality of all study programmes. Programmes that score 75 or higher may call themselves Top Study Programme. The Keuzegids is published by the Centre for Higher Education Information (C.H.O.I.). The scoring is based on students’ assessment (NSE 2022), study success rates (Vereniging Hogescholen) and labour market figures (Research Centre for Research and Labour market).
The Dutch universities of the arts have read with great interest the advice of the Council for Culture (Raad voor Cultuur) regarding social safety within the cultural sector and arts education. The universities recognise the problems outlined by the Council for Culture and acknowledge the role they play in making social safety an integral part of the development of the artists (and culture professionals) of the future. The arts education sector is pleased that the efforts made by the universities of the arts, both individually and collectively, to guarantee and increase social safety have been noted by the Council for Culture. At the same time, we are already busy implementing changes in line with the Council’s findings. We feel it is important to emphasise that this is never finished and that we are consciously and continuously working on it. The universities of the arts have done a great deal of work to strengthen the structures that are intended to counteract transgressive behaviour. One of the results was the presentation in May 2021 of the ‘Contours of the Social Safety Code’ by the universities of the arts to the then Minister Van Engelshoven. We actively draw the attention of our staff and students to codes of conduct, make confidential counsellors and complaints committees more visible, refine regulations and make them easier to find. The dialogue shows openness and alertness to social safety. The universities of the arts are paying constant attention to this. Of course, the didactic approach of demolishing and rebuilding the art student, as was done in the past by some universities of the arts, is now unacceptable to all; it no longer has a place in modern art education. With training in didactics and social safety, we impress on our lecturers, even those with small appointments, that transgressive behaviour, (sexual) intimidation, aggression and violence, bullying and discrimination are unacceptable. The educational climate has changed: we are educating a new generation with a firm focus on paying attention to awareness and encouraging to set one’s own boundaries. These future artists and cultural professionals are the critical culture changers of tomorrow. We see the Council for Culture’s advice as an encouragement to continue along the chosen path and to continue to strengthen the future generation of artists in this area. Central to this is the enhancement of didactic skills and the promotion of a culture in which everyone dares to speak out and to address one another. Only in this way can we create a safe and inclusive environment where all talents can flourish. We take to heart the recommendations made by the Council for Culture. The universities of the arts will and want to contribute, collectively and individually, to a safe and inclusive cultural sector. The Dutch Universities of the Arts
Teja Poljanšek and her band Eleutheria won the Erasmus Jazz Prize 2022 in April. For Teja, it was a confirmation of the growth she has experienced since she started her jazz education in 2018 at Codarts, the University of the Arts in Rotterdam. “Over the past two years we have taken a certain direction with the band. It’s great when you get appreciation for that from the jury and the public.” Teja came to Rotterdam from her native Slovenia four years ago. “A well-known Slovenian singer also studied at Codarts”, she tells. “I’ve been toying with the idea since high school. That would be nice. But it would also be scary, abroad, and far from home.” Nevertheless, she decided to give it a try. She submitted videos of three songs and was allowed to audition. It went so well that she was admitted to the school. Musical roots “I’ve been involved with music since I was a kid,” she says. “I come from a musical family; my older brother and sister are both professional musicians and we played together from an early age.” When she was 6, she started taking accordion lessons. From the age of 10 she also took singing lessons. She sang in choirs and singing groups, especially pop and folk music and Slovenian music. Jazz music only entered her world relatively late, at the end of high school. “When I came into contact with jazz, I was intrigued by the harmonical and rhythmical concepts,” says Teja. “It took me some time to appreciate it. The genre gives a singer a lot of freedom, both rhythmically and harmonically. I loved hearing the great singers of jazz, like Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Horn, Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson. But I also like more modern singers, like Yebba. That is not strictly jazz, but her music has a lot of jazz influences.” New options Teja is now in her last year of training at Codarts. If you watch the videos on YouTube of her audition in 2018 and a performance with her band Eleutheria in September 2021, you will see that she has made immense progress in recent years, both in her singing and in the presentation. “My horizons have broadened enormously,” she says. “I got to know other kinds of music, played many musicians. I discovered new options.” In her third year at Codarts she formed a band for a project to play her own material. She had met bass player Mees Booden and drummer Ap Verhoeven in her first year of training. Pianist Miran Noh started her education a year before. They met when both played together in an ensemble, and later they saw each other more often at mutual friends. Miran was the obvious choice when Teja formed her band and needed a piano player. Complicated vocals “It’s special to be in Eleutheria with Teja,” says Miran. “Her music is hard to pigeonhole. It’s not traditional, a kind of modern, sometimes dissonant, sometimes groovy. She always challenges herself with complicated vocals. She often comes in with material on paper. Our challenge is to think up and play appropriate accompaniment. All four of us have the freedom to express ourselves musically and bring in ideas.” Besides musically, the four band members also get on well personally. Last year the entire band went to Teja’s native country, and the plan is to repeat that this year. Of course, in Slovenia the musicians also try to arrange a couple of gigs. On the right track The Erasmus Jazz Prize 2022 was a temporary highlight for Teja and the other band members. ” Because of corona, in 2020 and 2021 we seldomly played for people,” says Teja. “We have worked hard on our new repertoire. The competition was a good way to try it out in front of an audience. When it catches on, you know you’re on the right track. It is hugely motivating.” Miran: “In 2021 I reached the final with my own band. To have won the prize now with Eleutheria is wonderful.” In addition to recognition, the award provides some other benefits. “The doors open more easily,” says Teja. “For example, we’re going to make an album and we’ll get more gigs. For example, we will be at Jazz in Crooswijk on May 29, and we will play at NN North Sea Jazz Festival in July. In the near future I hope to perform a lot and make new music together with the band.” Interview by Jos Leijen Photography by Sean Hitchens
Based at a new cultural campus in Rotterdam-Zuid, the new ‘Hogeschool voor de Kunsten’ aims to offer study programmes to new generations of students in the arts and sciences. Administrators of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences / Willem de Kooning Academy, Codarts ‘Hogeschool voor de Kunsten’ and the Erasmus University Rotterdam signed a declaration of intent to achieve their ambition on 20 January 2022. The arts institution will be a new entity linked to both Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The municipality of Rotterdam supports this special initiative. The educational institutions are joining forces with the municipality to develop the so-called Culture & Campus on the Charloisse Hoofd of Maashaven. This new cultural campus will combine education, research, and social initiatives. At the same time, the location offers the educational institutions the opportunity to intensify their mutual connection and their relationship with the city. The campus itself will be the location for the practice of art, and for artistic and cultural reflection which, on this scale, is not possible anywhere else. In addition, the campus will facilitate encounters, research, education-related social initiatives, and cultural programming that the partners will develop jointly. High-quality internationally oriented art education “The joining of forces of two art academies rooted in Rotterdam and complementary to each other, as well as the collaboration between university of applied sciences and university, enables us to offer teaching materials that are well suited to the needs of students: from preparatory education and high-quality, internationally oriented bachelor and master programmes to doctoral research, according to Ron Bormans, President of the Executive Board of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences.” “Based on our collaboration in the education and research programme Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab – which addresses and redefines social issues with the aid of art and science – we have learned that there is a great need for such a large umbrella educational institution”, says Jeroen Chabot, Dean of the Willem de Kooning Academy. In addition, the new educational institution will provide a better transfer from higher education to university education, adds Wilma Franchimon, President of the Executive Board of Codarts. “In addition to the bachelor’s and master’s degrees, the new art institute will offer opportunities for joint educational programmes and combinations of study programmes in higher professional education and academic education. In this way, we can serve students even better.” The Erasmus University Rotterdam will contribute academic education and research to the new art institution. Ed Brinksma, President of the Executive Board: “Uniting the visual and performing arts, design and academia in the new art institute creates new possible collateral benefits in education and research for all the partners involved, who play a major role in tackling the major challenges facing society, not only here in Rotterdam but also nationally and internationally.” Bustling and creative cultural campus at Rotterdam-Zuid The Rotterdam Municipal Executive supports the initiative. “We applaud this collaboration between educational institutions in Rotterdam. In the future, Rotterdam will be able to distinguish itself as a leader in the field of art education, with an extensive range of professional art programmes. This new educational institution is also a powerful boost for the Culture & Campus in Zuid, where we are already working together intensively”, says Said Kasmi, Vice Mayor for Education, Culture and Tourism for the City of Rotterdam. “This will be a vibrant, creative hub where energy, creativity and young talent can come together. It is a fine development for Rotterdam-Zuid: it inspires children and young people from the area, provides employment and cohesion in neighbourhoods and attracts tourists. We are proud that we are going to work on this together with these educational institutions.” Photo: Codarts students on Charloisse Hoofd. Photographer: Plaatwerk.
The third-year students of dance at Codarts Rotterdam have worked hard to perform the choreographies of the Talent On The Move Tour – TOTM, for short. Lieke has a part in Marco Goecke’s Bravo Charlie and also features in Femme by Patricia van Deutekom. She is looking forward to performing these pieces all over the Netherlands. ‘When you haven’t performed before an audience for a long time, you tend to forget why you’re doing it.’ ‘You have to be very flexible’, says Lieke, referring to the fact that during the third year she is also doing auditions for internships, in addition to all the preparations for TOTM. And the pandemic makes it all even more complicated. For example, it is customary to have a second cast for a piece, but with TOTM there is now also a third, emergency, cast. There’s a very good chance that a performer is unable to dance at the last minute because of Covid-19. ‘When someone drops out, you have to be able to step in immediately.’ Lieke: ‘As an intern with a dance company you are also third cast. So we are very well prepared and know how to deal with this when the time comes.’ Her Favourite ‘The great thing about Codarts is that you are given lots of opportunities. We’ve been lucky to have performed in pieces of well-known choreographers and to be able to put that on our resumes. Sometimes choreographers provide pieces that they’ve made before and that have already been performed, sometimes they make something new from an older piece, and sometimes they create an entirely new piece.’ Lieke’s favourite in this edition of TOTM is Marco Goecke’s Bravo Charlie – previously performed by Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. ‘It is a piece that favours my good side’, she says, modestly. ‘There’s a lot of upper-body work and that suits me. I also find the theme interesting. It is quite difficult in terms of coordination and there is a certain defining drive behind the movements.’ Stamina According to Lieke, Femme by Patricia van Deutekom is quite spectacular. ‘It’s a very physical piece, with a high injury risk. After ten minutes we are completely exhausted. We really have to rehearse this as a group and have the mindset to pull each other through: stamina.’ She continues: ‘It is also a special piece as Patricia created it as a rework of Jens van Daele’s choreography. She has worked with him very often, and he died two years ago. We are the first to perform this new version.’ Feeling the audience 20-year-old Lieke first studied dance for a year at the Artez Academy in Arnhem, and then switched to Codarts Rotterdam in the second year. She enjoys her group of 26 fellow students. ‘We don’t begrudge each other anything and we openly discuss things. Of course, it happens all the time that someone else is picked for a part. You must have enough self-confidence to deal with that.’ What the group have in common is a passion for dancing before an audience. ‘Performing is the best part of the profession. That’s when things really happen . On stage you can feel the audience. You give them something and you get something in return.’
