RhineBuzz Funk & Soul







The RhineBuzz Genie


Maurice Allen Lee and his Band

The Quirkiest Character at the Koyote
Our Soul and Funk extravaganza with Maurice Allen Lee and Push-Up is happening on November 20th at the Koyote Club, a new intimate private funk and soul club in the Old Schlachthof on the Rather Strasse 25, 40476 Düsseldorf.
We will present Maurice Allen Lee, soul man from Oklahoma City, USA, live on stage around 9.30pm accompanied by will be a six piece band.
Expect a very soulful show, Maurice is a bundle of energy on stage and of course, there will be all the usual RhineBuzz stuff ... prizes and surprises!
Our prize list grows, we have some great stuff to give away including cds from Putumayo World Music from New York; a gratis night out at the Koyote Club, including drinks; tickets to the Legoland Discovery Centre in Duisburg; invitations to the opening of Robert Mapplethorpe at the NRW-Forum; a voucher from Düsseldorf Marketing and Tourism and two tickets to the Rhine Ballet b.02.

The Koyote Club just opened in August and already has the hottest dj's knocking on it's doors. Between Maurice's live sets our dj Roger will be spinning old funk and soul, you will not keep still!














Something Got a Hold of Me


There aren't many chances to see English theatre here in Germany, so grab the opportunity whilst it is here!
On November 6th at 7pm The English Speakers Circle present "Something Got a Hold of Me" with a provocative and darkly funny performance by The Special Guests Company from Bristol.
Reviewed by the Guardian as "sinister and intriguing" this piece is about religious cults, charismatic leaders, power, persuasion, weakness and how everyone is just looking for something, a little something to make them happy.
"Something Got a Hold of Me" is supported by Bristol Old Vic.
The performance will be happening at the Weiterbildungzetrum, Saal (Hall) 1, Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz, Düsseldorf. This is at the rear entrance of the Hauptbahnhof.
This looks like a really great production, RhineBuzz will be there so do come along and we'll all go out for a drink afterwards.
Special group price tickets €7.50 available from Susan Jones 0211 3179322 or I also have some tickets.

So a good group of us saw this last night.
Thank you to Susan Jones for putting this on, it was a very interesting show; amusing, especially the interaction with Mr Heckler (is he part of it, isn't he?) dark and very real. So real some wanted to leave!
Well done to The Special Guests, we hope to see you in Düsseldorf again some time. Your piece certainly gave us a topic that sporadically came up in our conversation for the rest of the evening!


Sing-a-Long Mary Poppins




We are thrilled to be initiating the International Day at the KinderKinoFest with a showing of the all time family favourite Mary Poppins in English.
Come along to the UFA Palast next to the Hauptbahnhof on November 7th at 3pm to taste the magic of Mary Poppins and her friends. You can reserve your tickets, €3 children and €4 adults, here.
We will have Sara Kraus, from Colorado, singing along and encouraging you to join in, so come to the movies for a very enjoyable day out for all the family!
Before the movie the LVR (Media Center Rhineland) are also offering a stop motion film workshop for the children. Email me if you wish to reserve a place, this is also just €3, but we do only have two places left!
The Children's Film Festival is a wonderful celebration of film where children can become involved in all aspects of film from all sides of the camera.Look out for the brightly coloured brochures which have been delivered to all participating cinemas, kindergartens and schools in the greater Düsseldorf area. A record 10.000 seats have already been reserved! Amina Johannsen and her team are doing a fantastic job at bringing this important media into childrens' lives in a fun and educational way.
I am especially pleased to have received training from the LVR Centre in stop motion film so that in the near future I will be able to offer these workshops in English to the schools of Düsseldorf and surrounding areas.
Please email me if you would like me to contact your child's school about this delightful workshop.

8th November - Our audience enjoyed Mary Poppins and Amina Johanssen was very pleased that so many of you turned up. Many thanks!
We are talking of plans for next year, extending the International Day and offering the English-speaking children an active role in the KKF activities. Wonderful stuff.

Green Porno by Isabella Rossellini



Thursday's press conference at NRW-Forum with Isabella Rossellini






“I was always fascinated by the infinite,
strange and ‘scandalous’ ways
that insects copulate.”


Isabella Rossellini


Green Porno is wacky, childlike, scientifically accurate, pure eye candy, very funny.
For three days only Green Porno, the short movies by Isabella Rossellini will be shown at the NRW-Forum.
These short movies, conceived, acted and directed by Isabella Rosselini, will be shown upstairs in the gallery. Commissioned by the Sundance Channel with the cellular screen in mind these movies will bring a smile to your face as you learn how insects and aquatic creatures copulate and reproduce.
RhineBuzz will be there extra early, from 7pm, at our regular Friday Nights at the NRW-Forum, on 9th for a special evening combining Green Porno, Catwalks with the free introductions at 9 and 9.30pm and Stammtisch until midnight.
Here you will also have the chance to purchase the accompanying book including a DVD.
October 9th - 11th only. Don't miss it!


Isabella Rossellini presenting her book today.
She has just the kindest manner you could ever come across.
A smart, funny, beautiful and completely mesmerizing woman.

The first crowd that were at the NRW-Forum at 7. About 60 of you from the RhineBuzz community came in and out of the bar on Friday. Thank you for being there and making it a great evening!





Catwalks at the NRW-Forum



"the most exciting fashion exhibit up anywhere in the world right now"


This is what Fashion Week Daily has to say about the exhibition Catwalks at the NRW-Forum in Duesseldorf, Germany.







Alexandre de Betak and Caroline in front of the John Galliano Ukranian Virgin Bride Show installation

Exhibition now over!

The new show at the NRW-Forum is Catwalks and what a spectacular exhibition this promises to be!

This show is about the theatre of fashion, which at the catwalk shows in Paris, New York and Milan is, for some designers, taking precedence over the actual fashion itself.
It is also an exhibition for everyone interested in multi-media and video installations. An absolute feast for the senses!

You, the visitor, will receive a headset on entry to this exhibition and will then actually walk the catwalk through nineteen of the most impressive fashion shows of the past thirty years. All around you will experience the catwalk shows by way of a 3D, multi-media installation.
The show has been designed by Alexander de Betak, one of the greatest directors in the fashion business, and is brought to you in partnership with Vogue.

U-Bahn Tonhalle/Ehrenhof The entrance to the museum is where the flags are opposite the park (Hofgarten). Don't walk as far as the main road facing the Rhine.

You enter the exhibition at your own risk.






Armin Mueller Stahl at NRW-Forum


© Bernd Ahrens photography

There is an exhibition of the sketches and paintings of the veteran German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl upstairs at the NRW-Forum until 27th September. ARM is one of the few German actors who has made it big in Hollywood, last seen as Cardinal Strauss in Angels and Demons. An accomplished violinist, painter and drawer, AMS spent the breaks whilst filming his most recent work, an opulent costume drama from the 1920's of the Thomas Mann book The Budenbrooks, sketching over the screenplay. When the state of North Rhine Westfalia wished to give AMS an award one minister came up with the idea of giving this modest gentleman an exhibition at the NRW-Forum. AMS was moved to tears.

AMS's grand mother, mother and aunt were all artists. When naughty as a young boy, one of these 'house angels' would say "sit down" and they would sketch him with his sour face, capturing his screwed up eyes and nose and the very moment of rage or sadness. It was with such depth that the young AMS learnt to take in the world around him; no doubt this quiet observation has contributed much towards his enormous talent. He is a much-admired, and indeed, a much-loved actor.
If you visit the NRW-Forum on a Friday after 6pm, admission to both Catwalks and AMS will cost just €5.00. An absolute bargain!

Opera for Everyone




The Opera on the Rhine will open the new season with a gala performance of classic and favourite pieces embracing Verdi, Wagner, Offfenbach and Strauss at the Düsseldorf Opera House on Saturday 29th August at 8pm. In addition there will be a free live broadcast of this extra-special performance on the Burgplatz as part of a family day of Oper am Rhein für Alle. This will begin at 2pm and will include entertainment all day revolving around the world of opera. There will be short movies and video installations about the opera, quizzes and lounge and club sounds from the Clou Experience.
Of course, never missing from any German festival, the square will also be filled with gastronomic delights throughout the afternoon and evening.

In the Opera House the world class cast will include leading sopranos Deborah Polaski, Morenike Fadayomi and the acclaimed Wagner bass Hans-Peter König.
The gala will be hosted by one of Germany's most popular tv presenters Harald Schmidt.
This promises to be not only a spectacular day for all opera fans but also for anyone who has always wanted to know more about what happens in that grand, large white building at the Hofgarten.

RhineBuzz will be visiting the Opera again in the new season too. Details following soon.

The Hentrich Glass Museum in mkp



Correlations 31.10.09 - 04.04.10
GLASpekte 07.11.09 -14.03.10

The Hentrich Glass Collection is one of the largest collections of glass in Europe. It is part of the museum kunst palast and is based around the collection donated by the architect and great collector Helmut Hentrich.
Glass stretching over 3000 years can be admired here from pre-Roman to present day studio glass.
The Collection comprises of pieces that are always on show plus special exhibits such as the current show Correlations, glass from the collection of Malou Marjerus; a varied group of many forms, techniques and colours. My favourite just had to be the beautiful lime green handbag you can see above.
Entry to the Glass Collection is on the left hand side of the Ehrenhof, opposite the main entrance to museum kunst palast. €6.
In addition to this attached to the Tonhalle, the round concert hall at the beginning of the Ehrenhof, there is a beautiful arched, green exhibition space. This is used by the Hentrich Collection to give you a gratis taster of the treasures in store just down the path at the museum.
Michael Behrens Underwater World

The Current show GLASpekte is a collection of work by members of the NRW Association of Glass Artists. The pieces on show have been made by taking inspiration from the main collection in the museum. The director Dr Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk has spent much time in the USA and will be happy to give us a RhineBuzz tour in English sometime. We just need to fix a date.
Dedo von Kerrsenbrock-Krosigk views
Reiner Eul Komposition xv1/09
The Glass Museum is certainly a gem in Düsseldorf, and as with so many places, somewhere waiting to be discovered.
Go and take a look at the exhibition space in the Tonhalle. It's free!
GLASpekte in the Green Archway Tues - Sun 1-6pm.

RhineBuzz at the Opera




Our sell-out first night at the Opera on the Rhine was a great success.

For many of our visitors this was the first time they had visited the opera and the feedback I have had has been excellent with several saying they would like to return soon.

The performance we enjoyed on June 23rd was La Wally, set in snowy Austrian Tirol during a festival.The feedback I have heard so far has been wonderful. Our colourful group was made up of visitors from Korea, Germany, Italy, India, Scandinavia, Japan, USA, South Africa, Spain, UK and the Netherlands.


The incredible voice of leading lady Morenike Fadayomi left many with goose bumps and even a few tears. You can catch her again soon here at the Opera House as she will be the star of Porgy and Bess which is playing from 28.07 - 09.08.09.
After the performance we were treated to a privileged peek backstage lead by Kurt Helbig, head of marketing at the Rheinopera. The glimpse behind the scenes was absolutely fascinating as we discovered the sheer volume and just a fraction of the complexity involved in what goes into putting on the spectacular productions at this historic opera house. The stage staff could not have been more accommodating, even elevating us at one point on the hydraulic stage.

We'd like to thank the Opera House and especially Kurt Helbig for making this happen. We look forward to visiting the Rheinopera again in the new season. If you would like to join the mailing list for forthcoming opera events, and this includes the ballet too, please send an email to opera@rhinebuzz.com

Free English Tour of Michel Comte Retrospective at the NRW-Forum


Michel Comte at the NRW-Forum 
1 February - 10 May 2009





Filming with Teruko, Terumi and Maki


Following the success of RhineBuzz at the Albert Watson Best Of exhibition we are thrilled to have been asked to be part of the new show at NRW-Forum, Michel Comte Retrospective, the much sought after press and fashion photographer. We were at the the press conference yesterday and I was simply stunned at several of the photographs. The images are arresting, some stop you in your tracks.
From meticulously staged intimate,"paparazzi" type pictures from the celebrity world to the harsh images of war this exhibition is defintiely not to be missed.
The show begins on Sunday 1st February and from February 6th we will be giving a free tour in English every Friday at 9pm.

We also host a Stammtisch from 9pm until midnight, where all English speakers both old and new to the area are very welcome. You can join the Stammtisch even if you do not wish to visit the exhibition. Don't be shy - come along and find out what's happening in and around Düsseldorf.


our guests & friends from El Salvador, Iceland, Germany, Ireland, USA, Japan, India, Panama, Sweden, Russia, Haiti .....





Martin Schläpfer at the Rhine Ballet


Rhine Ballet b.01
We have tickets for the Premier of b.o3 in Düsseldorf on Feb 21st. Email us for details

The new director at the Rhine Ballet, Martin Schläpfer, has been causing more than a stir since arriving in here Düsseldorf. Take a look at this rehearsal video and you know that he is putting his dancers through some incredibly physical stuff. Added to this one of the ensemble also put on Facebook that she had never known such muscle pain(!), so it was with much anticipation that I actually went to see b.01.
I was NOT disappointed. My goodness what an extraordinary performance! I loved part one, March, Waltz, Polka and felt that the final part, Symphony, was a total attack on all senses - in a most impressive way. Almost like you could actually smell what was going on! WoW. Go see.
The Opera have kindly reserved special-priced tickets for us for the ballet b.02 for 16th April 2010. Details to follow nearer the time.
Meanwhile check this out to see what all the buzz is about. It's brought to you by Deutsche Welle, German news in English.

Martin Schläpfer was awarded the most prestigious German theatre prize, the Faust Prize, for the category choreography, in November. Congratulations!


b.02 Kunst der Fuge

Fish and Chips



There were certainly a lot of beautiful smiling faces at Fish and Chips last Saturday.
Jimsession were just fabulous and many of you wished to buy cds. Soon their manager told me.
Many thanks to our sponsors who gave us some fabulous prizes: Baccalà, NRW-
Forum, Takagi and Werner Hoffrichter who took us into Burn's Night with his spectacular bagpipes!

Special thanks to Tonino who managed to produce 150 portions of excellent
fish and chips. WoW!
To Nicola and Dinesh, a big hug and a thousand thanks who commnicated our event to all of NRW, and to André who will magic another wonderful movie for us and to Mark who took care of the door so brilliantly. What would RhineBuzz do without you all!

We look forward to salsaing with with our friend George who won the four week course on our up and coming RhineBuzz Salsa Nights.


And of course a heartfelt thank you to all for coming. Often I am asked how you can help RhineBuzz - just tell everyone what you tell me - that you had a great time. It's as simple as that!

Thanks also to Catherine Sparks for many of the superb photos.


Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)