Dick van der Harst
(1959) is a composer, arranger and musician whose work blends many influences, including jazz, classical and folk music from all corners of the world. He was composer-in-residence of LOD Music Theatre in Ghent from 1989 to 2013. Among other projects, he created musical theatre productions with actor and director Koen De Sutter and Alain Platel of Les Ballets C de la B. His own folk fanfare Banda Azufaifo and the heartwarming House of Hidden Tunes I & II combine various musical styles, from Mozart to Camarón de la Isla. In 2001 he won the Louis Paul Boon prize for "his social engagement and his bond with mankind, evident in his whole oeuvre." Three years later he was awarded the Grand Theatre Festival Prize. Van der Harst was the civic composer of Ghent in 2007 and 2008. He has made various CDs, including ones featuring Christmas and New Year songs from different cultures. At the festival, he will play and create music as musician-in-residence, both making and choosing music for various programmes.
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Archive available for: Dick van der Harst
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Writers' Fest
With: Aad Meinderts, Adriaan van Dis, Anna Woltz, Annelies Verbeke, Dick van der Harst, Edward van de Vendel, Femke Halsema, Francis Broekhuijsen, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Job Cohen, Joris Wijsmuller, Lamin Kuyateh, Michael Krüger, Rodaan Al Galidi, Typhoon
A festive event built around the presentation of the Jan Campert Prizes, the literary awards of the City of The Hague. In collaboration with the Jan Campert Foundation and the Dutch Foundation for Literature, Dutch literature is celebrated with various performances by writers, poets, and representatives of other disciplines (who honour the winners). The event is intended, in part, to highlight the state of Dutch literature. The afternoon culminates in the presentation of the Constantijn Huygens Prize for a whole body of work, which this year is awarded to Adriaan van Dis, beloved author and a great friend of the festival since day one. In Dutch
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An Afternoon with Adonis - Contemporary Arabic Poetry at Theatre De Vaillant
With: Adonis, Dick van der Harst, Guy Danel, Hassnae Bouazza, Lieselot de Wilde, Wim Konink
The most important poet working in Arabic is coming to The Hague's Schilderswijk neighbourhood. Adonis has had an enormous influence on contemporary Arabic culture, and is admired for his classic style, based on that of traditional Arabic poets, as well as for his modern ideas and critical views on Arabic society. The great poet recites his work and converses with Hassnae Bouazza. With music by the Dick van der Harst Ensemble. In Arabic
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Opening Night: Free the Word!
With: Alaa al Aswani, Dick van der Harst, Dilek Dundar, Farah Karimi, Guy Danel, Habtom Yohannes, Jennifer Clement, Jung Chang, Lex Bohlmeijer, Manon Uphoff, Reinier Voet, Renate Dorrestein, Toine Heijmans, Ton van de Langkruis
On opening night, the spotlight is on freedom of speech.The Sino-British writer Jung Chang knows what it means to be unable to speak freely in one's country. Years after she left Communist China, her world-famous book Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China was banned there. Tonight she delivers the Free the Word! keynote speech. With the following presentation of the prestigious Oxfam Novib PEN Awards, the festival honours contemporary authors who seek and propagate truth at the risk of their freedom and lives. The award-winners are the Turkish writer and journalist Can Dundar (who is now in prison in Turkey and will be represented by his wife Dilek Dundar), the Eritrean poet and songwriter Amanuel Asrat, who will be represented by Habtom Yohannes, and the Egyptian poet Omar Hazek. He would have been present in The Hague to receive the award, but was stopped on his way to The Netherlands at Cairo airport by the authorities. His fellow-countryman writer Alaa Al Aswany will represent him. After the ceremony, Lex Bohlmeijer will lead a discussion on how good intentions can founder when we raise issues of injustice, such as censorship. How can we really help threatened writers? And what is the point of good intentions when they have the opposite effect? Musical interventions by musician-in-residence Dick van der Harst switch up this English-language event.
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Saturday Night Wintercafé
Writers and the public meet and mingle in the Wintercafé. Master of ceremonies Francis Broekhuijsen keeps you up to date on what's happening in all the theatres, and which writers are signing books after their appearances. Writer-in-residence Dick van der Harst picks the tunes. Of course snacks and drinks are available, and books for sale by Van Stockum Bookshop. Stop by the Cultural News Agency to share the "Text of Your Life." In the foyer you'll also find the interactive quiz Mind of Moral by artist Sade Schönhage. After midnight, DJ Socrates keeps everyone dancing.
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Seven Deadly Sins
Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger and sloth. The seven deadly sins are inseparable from literature, film and visual art. The festival asked seven authors to each choose one and write a fresh text about it. Tonight you'll hear sinful stories from home and abroad, with accompanying music by Dick van der Harst. A superb literary-musical programme to enjoy with abandon. José Eduardo Agualusa, Slavenka Drakulić, Mira Feticu, Petina Gappah, Daan Heerma van Voss, Andrej Kurkov and Neel Mukherjee read in their own language, with simultaneous translations projected in English and Dutch.
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Friday Night Wintercafé
Writers and the public meet and mingle in the Wintercafé. Master of ceremonies Francis Broekhuijsen keeps you up to date on what's happening in all the theatres, and which writers are signing books after their appearances. Musician-in-residence Dick van der Harst picks the tunes. Of course snacks and drinks are available, and books for sale by Van Stockum Bookshop. Stop by the Cultural News Agency to share the "Text of Your Life." In the foyer you'll also find the interactive quiz Mind of Moral by artist Sade Schönhage. After midnight, DJ Socrates keeps everyone dancing.
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Hello, Poetry and Music
At the end of the evening, let yourself be seduced by poetry from home and abroad. Listen to young poets Jeroen van Rooij and Runa Svetlikova and meet acclaimed poets like Adonis and Michael Krüger. MC Anna Luyten also introduces three nominees of the VSB Poetry Prize: Geert van Istendael, Maud Vanhauwaert and Pieter Boskma. Varied music by Dick van der Harst and his musicians will let you dream the night away. As a special commission by the festival, he sets one of Adonis' poems to music.
