Virtual Stage in Rotterdam
From May 23 to 28, all 26 participants of the Virtual Stage project were guests in Rotterdam. The guests, coming from Italy, France and the Czech Republic, worked the whole week together with the Heliosfero participants in Rotterdam on the different parts of the project, especially the handbooks to be compiled for online rehearsals and music lessons.
Highlights were the concerts on May 25 and 26 in the Old or Pelgrim Fathers Church.
Bach & Escher, infinite variation
Thanks in part to the FPK’s special Balcony Scenes scheme and the corona grant from the NORMA fund, Heliosfero was able to perform the project Bach & Escher, infinite variation in September in Midwoud, Arnhem and Amsterdam. The number of visitors was limited by the 1.5m distance rule, but the enthusiasm was no less. The parallels between Bach’s music, especially some movements from Das Musikalische Opfer, and the work of the graphic artist M.C. Escher were made visible and audible, explained by art historian Marijnke de Jong.
Heliosfero becomes partner in European project Virtual Stage
Due to Heliosfero musicians’ proven knowledge and experience with online music lessons and rehearsals, Heliosfero, through harpsichordist Edoardo Valorz, was invited to act as a Dutch partner in the European grant-funded project Virtual Stage, distance learning for the professional training of opera. In this project, Heliosfero will focus specifically on the instrumental side of music. We hope to make our own knowledge available to others, but also to gain new knowledge ourselves in this rapidly developing field.
The project begins with an international inventory of existing knowledge about online music lessons and music rehearsals through a digital Questionnaire.