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Edition 56 online: Abandoned places A festival theme thought up long before the corona crisis . Abandoned places in the ( urban ) landscapes which appeal to artists. Now that we have to face abandoned podia and concert halls – abandoned because there’s a deadly virus swirling around – this theme takes on a whole new meaning. On Saturday 6th June we’re presenting an online programme from these abandoned halls. In a 1,5 hours long live Internet edition you can see Kluster5 in the Electriciteitsfabriek, Mosa Trio from Belgium and Michel Marang from Korzo. Especially for you Artist-in-residence Meriç Artaç went with a camera to her birthplace Istanbul, a deserted decor for her short film Mr. Z. The festival is gratis more info

The Utrecht Early Music Festival is making their video catalogue available online for free. At the moment there are already 28 concerts available and more will be added every month.  By September there will be 51 concerts available. Truly a major online festival of Early Music. Click here for more information

Music for Empty Spaces is the second live-stream concert this month from an empty Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. The concert is broadcast live on Thursday 28 May at 20.00 CET by the NTR on the website of NPO Radio 4 (video & audio) and can also be heard at the same time on their radiostation (audio only). The concert features 12 musical reflections on the corona crisis and includes new work by Joey Roukens, Jacob ter Veldhuis and Celia Swart. Composer/pianist Heather Pinkham brings together 12 composers including Jacob ter Veldhuis, Joey Roukens and herself and 12 musician including pianist Ralph van Raat, percussionist Dominique Vleeshouwers and cellist Maya Fridman. Each work reflects the composer’s personal experience of self-isolation. The result is a varied concert with 12 short premières in different compositional styles and on a broad range of instruments. Music for Empty Spaces demonstrates the richness and diversity of contemporary music and reveals how this music is able to react almost in ‘real time’ to the developments in our society. Heather Pinkham: “I hope that my work communicates the many ways in which quarantaine has influenced me. Sometimes at peace and carefree, sometimes fearful, sometimes angry and sometimes simply sad.” Click here for more information

On Sunday 17th May Cinema’s The Echo of Being will be played during the Mahler Festival Online. The film, based on biographical elements of the lives of Gustav Mahler, his wife Alma and daughter Maria, reflects on life, death and the afterlife. Cineast Lucas van Woerkum interwove the pictures with excerpts from Mahlers Second, Fourth and the dramatic Ninth Symphony. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has made recordings available especially for this occasion with Iván Fischer, Mariss Jansons and Bernard Haitink. The cast of The Echo of Being comprises Hollywood-actors Greg Wise and Amira Casar and the Dutch Dominique van Ginkel. The videostream begins Sunday 17th May at 16.00  and is free to follow via the Facebook-page and YouTube-channels of the Concertgebouw. Here’s the trailer: https://vimeo.com/417197038. Mahler Feastival

Can you have a digital chamber music festival? The new reality in which we find ourselves challenges us to find new means. What can you do when you have to cancel the event you’d planned, or more truly – what’s possible now? As the muscial pioneer of the ” new normal “, Classical Encounters has decided on an experiment. A festival which definitely looks for meetings can’t avoid the encounter online. Music always creates connections and offers comfort, essential elements right now for both listeners and performers. So Classical Encounters, both proud and exploratory, the very first digital edition of: Classical Encounters Online. On Sunday 17th May artistic leader Eva Stegeman is inviting everyone with a computer screen and internet for a digital festival day, live from the Lourdeskerk in Den Haag. During a livestream which begins at 12:00 and will finish around 18:00 , you can listen non-stop to concerts, short concert introductions, a minilecture, interviews and surprising musical intermezzo’s. The theme Variations, which was to be the theme of the original edition from 13th to 17th May, remains the theme in this online edition. info