Sisyphe: Teaching materials + performance visit + workshop series at the Gerrit van der Veen College
We created teaching materials especially for Victor Pilon’s performance Sisyphe with three creative assignments that teachers in Cultural and Artistic Education (CKV) or the arts can use to creatively provide context and deepen understanding, both before and after visiting a performance. These materials were sent to twenty high schools.
In addition to the teaching materials, we developed a workshop for the Gerrit van der Veen College’s theatre class in collaboration with theatre collective DeRonde/Deroo. The workshop series is a physical discovery tour in which life’s challenges are visualised. After the workshop series, the students visited Sisyphe and presented their findings during an improvised final performance at school.
Sisyphe: Performance visit, Mediacollege
The Mediacollege visited Sisyphe with 45 first-year Game Design students. Programme manager Jochem Valkenburg gave an introduction before the performance.
Crossings: Cultural and Artistic Education Days, Hyperion Lyceum
We developed a varied programme inspired by the theme ‘home’ for 250 fourth- and fifth-year students. The students got a glimpse into what exactly the Holland Festival is, reflected on the theme of ‘home’ with assignments, had a master class with the Discussiëren Kun Je Leren foundation and attended a workshop by spoken-word artist Luan Buleshkaj.
Flash internship JINC
In collaboration with JINC, we organised a so-called flash internship for eleven second-year students of the Calandlyceum. The students were given a behind-the-scenes look at what the Holland Festival exactly is and did assignments where they could choose their own associate artist. They were also given a tour through the different Holland Festival departments and the Muziekgebouw.
Depois do Silêncio: Performance visit + Meet and Greet associate artist Christiane Jatahy for alumni group of the IMC Weekendschool
Associate artist Christiane Jatahy’s piece Depois do silêncio was a good match for the eight alumni who had expressed interest in themes like the history of slavery and discrimination. Before the performance, Jatahy had a talk with IMC Weekendschool alumni where she gave more information. They reflected on the political situation in the Netherlands, and Jatahy said her hope lay in the younger generation.
11.000 Saiten: Exploratorium + Project spatial composition, Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA)
This year fifty students from five conservatories in the Netherlands had the chance to work with internationally acclaimed makers and fully participate in the Holland Festival production 11.000 Saiten. This type of extracurricular activity for broadening horizons will be expanded in the coming years under the title Exploratorium. The term comes from Karlheinz Stockhausen, who felt that conservatories should not train students to conserve old music, but rather encourage exploring new sounds and structures.
For various departments of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, we also developed an in-depth programme consisting of a master class by conductor Bas Wiegers, a visit to the performance Melencolia and the final rehearsal of 11.000 Saiten, meet & greets with composer Georg Friedrich Haas and Norbert Ommer, sound director of Melencolia. This project resulted in various spatial compositions that were presented during a concert evening at the Q-Factory.
HF x Toekomst Muziek
For the purpose of inclusion and accessibility, we feel it’s important to collaborate with organisations who focus on helping vulnerable youths who aren’t always connected with an educational institution. In collaboration with Toekomst Muziek, we started a talent development programme for young people from Amsterdam South East. Over the course of three weeks, they visited Crossings, Eu não sou só eu em mim, Melencolia, Sisyphe and Arthur Verocai, met international makers and were given glimpses in front of and behind the scenes.
Melencolia: Performance visit + workshop series at Stichting Eiwerk
We also did a collaboration with Stichting Eiwerk, a music centre for mentally vulnerable people. We developed a workshop series around the theme of melancholy: what is it, and what does it sound like? Participants visited the performance Melencolia and worked towards an own final concert inspired by the performance.
HF Lab
HF Lab is the Holland Festival’s new educational programme, made possible by the ELJA Foundation, that explores, stimulates and cultivates young people’s love for the performing arts. HF Lab teaches young people to develop their creativity and reflect on themselves and their place in the world in a new way. With three different educational programmes - HF Lab students, HF Lab programme makers and HF Lab production team - the festival will provide in-class workshop series from 2025, selecting ten young programme makers as festival ambassadors and offer practical work experience for vocational education students (MBO). The educational projects part of the HF Lab pilot are: HF x Toekomst Muziek, the workshops around Sisyphe and Crossings and visits to the performance with IMC Weekendschool and the Mediacollege.
Internship and work experience opportunities
There is room for young people in the Holland Festival organisation as well, in the various internship and work experience opportunities that we offer. This year, we had interns working in the following departments: communication & marketing, development, production and engineering, and business operations.