Don Giovanni - RhineBuzz goes to the Opera


Richard Šveda (Don Giovanni), Brigitta Kele (Donna Elvira) | © Hans Jörg Michel

 In our first RhineBuzz event for 2017, prepare to fall under the spell of the notorious Don Giovanni. 

Considered to be one of the finest operas ever written, Don Giovanni was first performed in Prague in 1787. The story is based on the legendary tales of Don Juan; a womaniser constantly searching for the next heart to break. Unrepentant to the last, Don Giovanni is not deterred by irate fathers, jilted lovers, or, the prospect of being dragged through the Gates of Hell.

Oper am Rhein’s production of Don Giovanni has given Mozart’s opera a reboot for its 230th birthday, bringing to the stage a modern retelling, reminiscent of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, that plays to both the comedic and dramatic elements of the story.

RhineBuzz enjoys discounted prices for the best seats in the house at the Deutsche Opera am Rhein. Discount are also available for students, interns and aupairs. For payment details please email LindaAtRhineBuzz@gmail.com. A simple "join" on Facebook is not enough to reserve a spot. Payments need to be credited by February 20.

We hope you will join us on Sunday, March 5 for what promises to be a fabulous evening’s entertainment.

Fashion Dinner and Show at the Rita Lagune Studio


"Düsseldorf the Fashion City" - but where is the fashion?! So many of you ask! Where are all the designers, the funky stores …. ?
Fashion is indeed hugely important to the city, but as with many areas in Düsseldorf, it is kind of hidden to those not in the business, so RhineBuzz invites you to our first Fashion Dinner in the intimate studio of the urban label Rita Lagune.

Join us on October 15 for a three course meal - fish or vegetarian - and fashion show, in this colourful and welcoming studio in one of those numerous beautiful courtyards in Düsseldorf. The spaces you often peek in and say “I wonder what is in here?” Rita Lagune’s founder, Ruth Heinen will host the evening. She is open, and most friendly and keen to meet you the international people in Düsseldorf. She will happy to chat to you about her work and Düsseldorf the fashion city.

Limited places are €55.00 per person which includes the meal, drinks and fashion show. Reservation and payment details to LindaAtRhineBuzz@gmail.com


Rita Lagune Fashion Dinner
Duisburger Str 11
40477 Düsseldorf

October 15 please arrive for 7pm

Dress Code: Afterwork or Cocktail 


RhineBuzz events are supported by the Düsseldorf Office of Economic Development



Setting up a Business in Düsseldorf - seminar dates 2016



One in ten entrepreneurs in Germany is not of German origin, the prosperous city of Düsseldorf especially is a very attractive location for new businesses. If you are thinking of turning your own idea into a business, the city's Office of Economic Development offer a whole package of services to help you on your way.

 Begin by attending one of these one day workshops in English. I've heard good things about the seminars, here are the dates for 2016:

08 March 2016
21 June 2016
01 September 2016
15 November 2016

You can download the flyer and programme here.
The session is free. If you make a reservation, but then cannot make it, please cancel the reservation and make way for someone who can go, there is often a waiting list.
Contact and registration
City of Düsseldorf 
Office of Economic Development 
Bettina Löhr 
phone: +49 (0)211 89 9 55 06 
fax: +49 (0)211 89 3 55 06 
email: bettina.loehr@duesseldorf.de

Seminar Location
 Gewächshaus Düsseldorf
Coworking Space
Mindener Strasse 30
40227 Düsseldorf

Backstage Tour düsseldorf festival! and Guru Dudu Silent Disco



The düsseldorf festival! is a stimulating jamboree of the performing arts, taking you across city venues from penthouse offices to churches to swish restaurants and more. For almost 3 weeks the festival takes over the Altstadt and beyond, all based around the festival marquee on Burgplatz.
RhineBuzz is taking you on a very special backstage tour of the festival so that you can have some understanding of the 'temporary village behind the scenes' that is in place every year to put on the eclectic programme of dance, contemporary circus, jazz, Fado to name but a few.
Artists arrive in a continuous stream from all over the globe to perform - how does this work, who looks after them, where do they eat? The logisticsof such a festival are enormous - and we can give you an upclose and personal peek.
The tour is free, just meet us at the Festival Marquee on Burgplatz at 18:00

Then, if after the tour you want to have some fun dancing around the streets of the Altstadt, hang around, get to know us, have a drink in the festival bar and then join the GURU DUDU SILENT DISCO TOUR - the hit of the Edinburgh festival last year! Tickets are just €13 to groove around with this crazy Australian character - tickets can be picked up on the day at the Marquee. 
The tour begins at 20:00.

 We will also be giving two tickets for Guru Dudu away to the first two to turn up for the backstage tour and wish to stay on for the Silent Disco tour.

Review RhineBuzz at the Glass Museum



Goat, Marta Klonowska, Düsseldorf 2008, Metal frame; green-tinted, greyish-blue, gray, pink and brownish-red flat glass shards, silicone, H. 165 cm, Photo: Stefan Arendt, LVR, 2011

RhineBuzz discovers the city with you on two around events per month 
We went to the Glass Museum on August 25
Next event will be the Kunstpunkte on September 11
These events are supported by the Düsseldorf Office of Economic Development


According to legend, in the time of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, a craftsman brought before the court a glass vase made of a substance so strong that when thrown upon the floor it did not shatter. Instead, the craftsman simply picked up the vase, tapped out a dent with his hammer and presented it to the Emperor. Shocked, the Emperor immediately asked whether anyone else knew of the existence of the glass, but the craftsman assured him they were the only two. On hearing this the Emperor had the craftsman killed immediately, lest news of this miraculous substance completely devalue his stockpiles of silver and gold.
This was but one of many of the stories of glass’s unique and occasionally apocryphal, place in history, related by Dr. Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk, Director of the Hentrich Glass Museum at Museum Kunstpalast, during the recent RhineBuzz tour. A much anticipated highlight of the RhineBuzz calendar, the tour was a fascinating way to explore this less well known corner of the Museum’s collection. 
Comprising around 3 500 pieces, the museum’s collection is one of the largest in the world, offering a comprehensive history of glass ranging from functional vessels dating back to early Roman Times, through to contemporary pieces exploring themes such as climate change and commercialism.
It is a beautifully curated display that not only showcases the Museum’s collection but also challenges your understanding of glass as a medium.  While you should definitely keep an eye out for future RhineBuzz tours, the current special exhibition of Slovakian Glass is outstanding and should not be missed. This exhibition brings together the talented artists working in photography and stencils as well as glass, to create unique and thought-provoking pieces. 
A heartfelt thanks to Dr. Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk for taking the time to unlock some of the secrets of this wonderful space for RhineBuzz members.

Slovakian Glass - Installations of Palo Macho and Jana Hojstričová and design by Patrik Illo and Aleksandra Stencel runs until 4 September. 

Kunstpunkte 20 Years - RhineBuzz tour of the Open Studios



Düsseldorf artists open their doors on two weekends in September for the Kunstpunkte - Arts Points - a constellation of visual arts, photography, sculpture and performance, often in almost secret, mysterious spaces around the city.
With over 500 open studios to visit, the choice can be overwhelming!
RhineBuzz will be taking you on a tour of selected studios on Sunday September 11 in the funky vintage bus that everyone really loves! We visit 5 or 6 studios, meet the artists and chat, and have the chance for a close-up look at their work.
Not only will we be peeking in the courtyards and big doors you would normally never see behind, but you will also leave with a greater understanding of how vital the arts are in this city.

 I, Caroline West, will be hosting the afternoon with poet and writer Frank Schablewski, together we will be introducing you to the artists we will visit and be chatting about the arts‘ scene and its history in Düsseldorf in between stops.

 Do pick-up the flyer which can be found in cafés, bookstores, museums and other various points around the city for an extensive map of the studios and details of the Friday night events, where the alternative spaces in the city will act as a stage for all kind of happenings.
Also, as Kunstpunkte is celebrating 20 years in 2017, numerous 'specials' will be taking place.

Kunstpunkte RhineBuzz tour in English
September 11 at 15:00
Meeting point Rheinterrasse, Joseph-Beuys Ufer -14.40 sharp! 
The bus leaves at 15.00 and returns to this point at 18.00
Limited seats €15.00 per person
For reservations on the vintage bus please email Petra Barabasch at the Department of Culture: petra.barabasch@duesseldorf.de 
or call 0211 89 24 197. Petra speaks English


b.28 - RhineBuzz at the Ballett am Rhein




The latest of Ballett Am Rhein’s series, b.28 juxtaposes Esplanade, a bedrock of the American dance repertoire with two premieres, Tenebre and Different Dialogues, both created for the Dusseldorf company. 
Paul Taylor’s Esplanade was created 41 years ago as an observation of human connection in a street. This is not, however a world of grey office workers, but rather an energetic chorus running down a boulevard kicking leaves in the air. The dancers move like autumn leaves across the bare stage, with their movements and interactions swelling across the piece. 
By contrast, South African born Hubert Essakow has created, Tenebre, a darker piece that draws inspiration from the Easter ceremony extinguishing light. Essakow’s piece, however, reverses this, moving from darkness into light, in a piece that feels at times like Swan Lake’s brooding cousin. Minimalist lighting and costume design layer an additional dimension of shadows to Essakow’s haunting choreography. 
The final piece of the evening, also a premiere, is Dutch choreographer, Nils Christe’s, Different Dialogues. Starting out his career as a musician, Christe’s work is deeply rooted in his musical choices: in this instance a symphony by Philip Glass. While Different Dialogues may be grounded in Glass’ music, it is given depth and flourish by a staging that feels as if the dancers have journeyed through an elemental landscape: a watery backdrop, a forest of lights, swirling smoke and a stark world filled with a cacophony of shattering glass. 

This is a powerful evening of dance that showcases the diversity and depth of talent in this company.



 b.28 - Ballett am Rhein
Sunday July 10 at 3pm
RhineBuzz enjoys discounted seats for the ballet and opera
Please contact LindaatRhineBuzz@gmail.com for details


Jean Tinguely. Super Meta Maxi at Museum Kunstpalast



Visiting an exhibition of Jean Tinguely’s art is not a passive experience. Characterised by sound movement and confronting construction it both fills the space it inhabits, and draws the observer in. 
Twenty-five years after the artist’s death, Tinguely’s work are being presented in Germany for the first time. Under the banner, Super Meta Maxi, Museum Kunstpalast’s has more than 90 pieces of TInguely’s work on display in an interactive exhibition of sculptures that you walk around, under and through. And as in the case of his seminal piece – Meta Maxi Maxi Utopia – you have permission to climb up, on and over. 

Jean Tinguely Great Méta-Maxi-Maxi Utopia 1987

Born in Switzerland in 1925, Tinguely began his career as a freelance decorator and artist.  Initially embracing the use of wire to sculpt dynamic pieces, Tinguely’s art expanded to incorporate machines that brought motion and sound to his work. Termed kinetic art, some of these pieces grew to such a size that individual sculptures required an entire room in which to be displayed. 

Jean Tinguely Mengele-Totentanz 1986

Over the course of his career, Tinguely’s exhibitions became known in equal part for the dramatic pieces on display and for the spectacle that surrounded their presentation including a self destructive installation that ultimately went up in flames, and a collaborative work with his wife, sculptor Niki de Phalle, of a giant woman’s body that visitors could walk inside. Both were indicative of Tinguely’s capacity to create colourful, playful pieces that also explored deeper themes of identity, aggression and fear.

Jean Tinguely at the zoo in Krefeld 1987
Photo: AFORK Düsseldorf Leonardo Bezzola

While the Meta Maxi exhibition at Museum Kuntspalast is unlikely to end in flames, controversy or arrest, it is nonetheless a wonderful exhibition that will have you searching out the source of sounds of crashing metal and grinding wheels or following the scent of burning beams down darkened tunnels. Make sure to seek out the superbly presented installation Mengele Totentanz – situated in a room off the one housing Meta Maxi Maxi Utopia. This is a profound and haunting piece that will stay with you long after you leave the exhibition.
Fiona Leonard


Jean Tinguely. Super Meta Maxi
23 April to 14 August 2016
Museum Kunstpalast 
Ehrenhof 4-5
40479 Düsseldorf

Photography Masterclass with Pete Marifoglou

Broken Pavement New York City 1969
@Pete Marifoglou
Next in our series of RhineBuzz Masterclasses will be an afternoon with New York photographer Pete Marifoglou on Monday May 14.

The moment I laid eyes on his work I just knew this was something extraordinarily special.  

 As a student of School of Visual Arts NY, Pete took lectures with Robert Mapplethorpe, Diane Arbus, Duane Michals and Nam June Paik to name but a few. He was invited to take stills at Andy Warhol's Factory. His images are so iconic they almost defy description, we have seen these scenes in so many magazines, but the view is very much his own.

 This masterclass will be about looking and considering what we actually see.
Pete Marifoglou
@ Markus Luigs

 Today with our phones and digital cameras it is easy to not really see what we photograph - we snap away, then sift through endless images in the hope that we have caught the right one. Pete is an old school photographer, carefully considering his frame and subject before taking that shot. And then, what an image you have! Not a pot-luck photo, but a carefully decided image - a real photograph.

 Pete Marifolgou is the winner of two Grimme prizes, one of the most prestigious prizes in German tv.
His work has been described as 'not only rare, but the best emotional I have ever seen for many years' by the director of the Chagall Museum in Nice.
I took his work to the Jewish Museum in New York and could see the look of discovery in the eyes of the curator. 
Other people in the arts world have said, 'Few people are still alive who have experienced the New York at the time that you did. It is a real treasure to see this work and to be able to ask a living person about where it came from, how it came about ' .

' I place you high among the new European photographers' J.C. Lemony, Director of Bibliothéque National Paris in 1979.

 Especially for RhineBuzz Pete will take just 4 keen photographers out and about to see his Düsseldorf.  First you will meet, and glimpse his work, then he will take you to shoot in and about town, you will spend the final hour assessing what you have each done.

Cost €88.00
The workshop will take place in the city centre of Düsseldorf, weather permitting
For further details please email caroline@rhinebuzz.com
You can use a digital camera for this workshop

Review - RhineBuzz at the Tonhalle - Sternzeichen 8 with Lucas and Arthur Jussen



Fiona Leonard is new in town.
Originally from Australia, Fiona is an author, scriptwriter and blogger whose wanderlust has taken her across 26 countries on five continents.
I am very happy to welcome Fiona to RhineBuzz, she will be reviewing much of what we do - can't wait :)

Visiting a concert space for the first time is a wonderful treat; a chance to not only experience a performance but the venue as well. Experiencing the Dusseldorf Symphony at the Tonhalle on Monday night was a delight both in terms of venue and performance. While many venues separate the performers and the audience, the Tonhalle is at once both an intimate and a soaring venue. With its impressive domed roof, the Tonhalle, places the audience both in the midst of the orchestra and beneath an arcing sky.

Such a space was a perfect setting for the Dusseldorf Symphony’s performance of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, the recently composed, ‘Symphonic Transformations of a Theme by John Beall’, and the Symphony’s partnership with Dutch piano prodigies, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, performing Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D Minor by Francis Poulenc.


The evening opened with the premiere of ‘Symphonic Transformations of a Theme by John Beall’; a piece composed in 2014 by American, Kevin Beavers as gift for his composition teacher, John Beall. This is an innovative work that gives as much space to its percussive section as to the more traditional orchestral voices. It is always a pleasure to experience a new piece presented for the first time and when called to the stage at the end of the performance, Beaver’s clear delight at having his composition brought to life was wonderful to see. 
It would be easy to read a symbolic message into the second part of the evening’s performance: a section that began with the orchestra being rearranged to accommodate two young faces on the stage. As the orchestra waited patiently, chairs were removed and two grand pianos moved to centre stage to await the arrival of Dutch piano virtuosos, Lucas Jussen (23) and Arthur Jussen (19). 
With blonde locks and orange socks rounding off their suited ensemble, the brothers looked as if they had got lost en route to a very different type of concert. But their mastery of Poulenc’s Concerto made it clear they were exactly where they were meant to be. The Jussen’s display an unabashed engagement with the music, delighting in their performance and that of their fellow musicians.  The audience’s enthusiastic response to both the Poulenc and the Jussen’s encore of Bizet’s ‘Jeux d’infants  – played on a single piano – left no doubt as to the Jussen’s right to claim centre stage.

The finale of the evening, Dvorák’s ‘New World Symphony’ was a fitting end to a program that felt like something of a reimagining of the musical space.  A symphony that has literally been to the moon and back, Dvorák’s 9th Symphony speaks to both its European heritage and Dvorák’s experience of the burgeoning New York of the late 1800s. Conductor, Dmitry Liss, an energetic and enigmatic performer in his own right, drew out an elegant collection of solos, particularly from the wind and brass sections, matching them with the strength of the Symphony’s string section, to bring the evening’s journey to a triumphant close.

Bowie's Piano Man - an evening with Clifford Slapper, March 31 at Stahlwerk


Bowie's Piano Man will be an evening celebrating the music of Mike Garson - David Bowie's piano man for some 40 years and a musician often cited as one of the top ten pianists around the world.

Clifford Slapper, Mike Garson's biographer is also a pianist, this is why the two met.
It seemed just right that Clifford should be the man to write the biography of Mike Garson, the two built a great trust and an intriguing book is the result; more than just a biography of a world-class musician, it is a book of a musician by a musician that is full of hope, healing and a great understanding of all that music, without boundaries, can be.

 We will be talking with Clifford Slapper about his book and his friendship with Mike Garson which has lasted many years right up until now as they were last together in London just recently when Bowie's last band to tour with him, reunited in London for the most poignant Brit Awards.

 The evening will be hosted by Mayo Velvo, chansonnier and Liebling of Düsseldorf's cabaret scene and, also a great Bowie admirer. Mayo will be treating us not only to his charismatic presentation, but he will also sing a couple of Bowie songs, accompanied by Clifford Slapper on piano, making these songs his very own.
Photo Carsten Sander

 Mayo will be joined by the singers, Edi Winarni, Linda Hergarten and Ian LeBlanc. Four corners of the world of music, electronica, classical, rock and chansons will come to together on this evening, to make for a surprising performance in the true sense of what art is all about. Not 100% planned, and eye-opening for both audience and protagonists. 
Photo Katarina Pobltzki
Edi, is a Düsseldorf multi-media artist working in several disciplines including electronic music. He was introduced to me by Emil Schult several years ago, when he was singing with the band MIT. His performance to this eclectic evening can't be missing in the city that grew the very roots in electronica and gave them to the world.

Linda is a graduate of the Robert Schumann Music Conservatory. I first saw this young woman perform Kurt Weil songs side-by-side with none other than Campino, of Germany's biggest rock band Die Toten Hosen. Entitled 'Welcome to Germany' This most moving concert was given to recall the the exhibition 'Degenerate Music' that took place in Düsseldorf over 70 years ago.
Linda had such a wonderful, relaxed stage presence I have wanted to work with her ever since and am now thrilled that she will be joining us for this wonderful event.

In total contrast, Ian LeBlanc is the singer and songwriter of the indie rock band Aberrations. Having recently released their first album they are now making the rounds on the live circuits and steadily building a strong following whilst having a whole lot of fun on stage!
Ian as it happens, is a musician with a great respect for Mike Garson, when I discovered this, I simply had to invite him to join us on at this performance.

 The evening will be embellished by Luca Kohlmetz and Ben Schlemmer, students at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie. They have been given the exclusive rights to work with images from the book 'Bowie's Piano Man' just for the evening.

I'm thrilled to see how Düsseldorf singers have embraced this unique performance, overcoming their uncertainties and willing to get up there and give this a go, so much in the sense of Mike Garson who is the master of improvisation. It's going to be a great night of wildly different music genres coming together to celebrate music from Düsseldorf that is linked to some of the greatest musical influences in the world.
Thank you dear performers, this evening will be a true celebration of so much that RhineBuzz has become bringing the story of this event full circle as it began with further research I was doing last year on the music history of Düsseldorf for the city's 'We Love Music' tour which I wrote in 2011 ... but more about that, and how all this came about, beginning with photographs I was privy to, taken in the 1970s in New York, at this unique RhineBuzz evening at Stahlwerk.
David Bowie and Mike Garson at Olympic Studios
Photo @Kate Simon
Limited tickets €25

From Kautz Ticketshop, Aders Str 48, Düsseldorf Friedrichstadt
or email caroline@rhinebuzz.com


Any profits from this event I wish to donate to SingPause - a pioneering Düsseldorf project for the musical education of children in primary schools, headed up magnificently by Manfred Hill.
Bowie's Piano Man - an Evening with Clifford Slapper
March 31 at 8pm 
Doors open 7pm
Stahlwerk
Ronsdorfer Strasse 134
40233 Düsseldorf


                     This event could not be considered without the people who are dedicated to music and who are so very special in my life.
My heartfelt thanks to prolific Bowie biographer David Buckley who not only introduced me to Clifford last year, but is just brilliant in answering my never-ending questions about electronic music
Thank you to music guru Henry Storch who supports all that I do in such an unprecedented, giving way
To Stefan Prill at Stahlwerk for his generosity
To Luca Kohlmetz, just thanks :)
To Thomas Buchem and Guido Trinks for ideas and support that I could not do without
To Julia Coulmas of Fräulein Swing and Helmut Woigk at Kawai
To Maja
To Christop Christian Beermann for his talented eye and never saying no, even when I need last minute help!
To photographer Pete Marifoglou for his trust and extraordinary eye 
And to all who are helping put this together ... the musicians, the singers, my fab assistant Linda, I couldn't do what I do without you!

Cyprien Gaillard at the Julia Stoschek Collection


Cyprien Gaillard, Koe, 2015
HD Video, 4:17 Min
Courtesy of the artist and Sprueth Magers



 April's 'RhineBuzz Around Town' event we will be visiting the Julia Stoschek Collection, a private museum dedicated to video art which is an art form that has its roots in NRW.

 Housed in a spectacular space in Oberkassel, RhineBuzz is pleased to offer the first trip to this unique collection including a tour in English.
The current exhibitions at the JULIA STOSCHEK COLLECTION are NUMBER TWELVE Hello Boys, an exhibition of 13 artists that draw a line from the feminist video and performance pioneers of the 1970s to selected contemporary works among female photographers and video artists and NUMBER ELEVEN which is dedicated to French artist Cyprien Gaillard.

Please email LindaAtRhineBuzz@gmail.com for reservations

Cypriot Gaillard at the Julia Stoschek Collection
April 10 at 13:00
Schanzenstrasse 54 
40549 Düsseldorf


The Krypta with Emil Schult




A most exclusive RhineBuzz event!

Emil Schult, longtime collaborator of Kraftwerk, creator of the famed Autobahn cover and contributing artist of the 3D visualisations of the ongoing sell out Kraftwerk concerts is a working Düsseldorf artist and happily a big RhineBuzz fan :)
From 1995 to 2000 Emil decorated the Krypta in the Robert Schumann School of Music, painting the ceiling, walls and floor intricately with all encompassing esoteric themes. Stockhausen composed a soundtrack for the Krypta. 

This is a space of great tranquility and beauty. A most special place in the city.
Emil has agreed to give us another public RhineBuzz tour of the Krypta. The last was three years ago! Spaces are limited to 20, price €15:00

Please register LindaAtRhineBuzz@gmail.com 
RhineBuzz Tour May 7 at 11:00
The Krypta 
Fischer Strasse 110
40476 Düsseldorf



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