Dance for Beirut - 24 Oct 2020 - Kromhouthal Amsterdam

Beautiful Beirut is in crisis.

The rest of the world sent humanitarian aid. But we learned that artists hardly benefit from it. Then we had an idea.

A few phone calls later something magical happened... the collective consciousness that something had to be done. We decided to throw a party, at a party: the Amsterdam Dance Event. Not just any party.

We believe in making a difference: Enhancing the viability and visibility of local communities, nudging the breakdown of socio-cultural boundaries. And fostering cultural inclusion and tolerance.

Our event aims to

• Create awareness about the disaster’s impact

• Build bridges between Dutch and Lebanese culture

• Trigger people to party and get out their wallet

The Dance for Beirut was held during the ADE on October 24th 2020. Following the Corona measures, we could not dance in public. So we broadcast online from the Kromhouthal, with audiences connecting from home.

The funds we raised went towards supporting the performing arts in Beirut, into Beirut’s socio-cultural infrastructure, productions and programming.

NYE - 31 Dec 2018 - Amsterdam

Aftermovie of the official New Year’s Eve celebrations in Amsterdam leading into 2019 with the motto #BeKind - remembering the words of its late mayor Eberhard van der Laan.

For a couple of hundred thousand visitors we built a live show, connecting past and present through music and art from around the globe.

As music director I selected the musicians, created the live show, mixed the music for the fireworks and DJ’ed the afterparty.

Executive producer was Nathan Wiersma of SVP Sfeerbeheer.

SAIL Amsterdam - Aug 2020

It is with great sadness that we had to learn that it would be impossible to organise the Netherlands’ biggest public event which happens only once every 5 years.

As cultural curator, I was programming more than 250 hours of arts and entertainment for the more than 2 million visitors that travel to Amsterdam for this event.

I was also to be the launch of a 2,5 year-long journey around the world to promote the 17 SDG’s set by the United Nations for which I had created the storyline.

On to 2025!

Classical Music Rave - 27 Mar 2014 - Estonia

The first ever event of its kind in the Nordic countries was a collaboration with Tallinn Music Week in the suitably industrial setting of the former power plant, Tallinn Creative Hub. As a cherry on the cake, at least half of the music played was by Estonian composers. The line-up of DJs included the renowned producer and owner of Bedroom Community label, Valgeir Sigurdsson, known for his work from Björk to Brian Eno; the restless musical soul Nick Luscombe, a prolific radio host and DJ, known from BBC Radio3 to Resonance FM; Steve Hellier, the founding member of Death in Vegas, the creator of the Classical Music Rave Brendan Jan Walsh, and the talented Estonians – classically trained cellist, producer and DJ Sander Mölder and record label owner, producer and DJ Aivar Tõnso. Chamber Choir Sireen and electronic impro-group Algorütmid offered a special live-collaboration.

Special design solution for the event was created by multidisciplinary artist and fashion designer Maris Ilison and interior designer Ott Kangur.