Interviews, Q&amp;As and feature articles<br />

Judith van Driel of the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam: 'the more we played Brahms, the more freedom we found'

FIRST PERSON Judth van Driel of the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam on Brahms

On approaching the elusive and unreachable in four chamber masterpieces

In every life there are moments of great significance. Experiences that stick with us and define our own personal story.

'A nun destroyed my tent': artist Kate Daudy talks about NFTs, refugees, and having her work thrown out with the trash

'A NUN DESTROYED MY TENT' Artist Kate Daudy on her work with refugees, and her first NFT

The artist's first 'Non-Fungible Token' goes live as part of a new online exhibition

It’s been a turbulent week for British artist Kate Daudy. Am I My Brother’s Keeper, her refugee tent (main picture), the art installation and seminal work that propelled her to international fame is gone, thrown out with the trash.

"A nun destroyed the tent," Daudy explains. The work, a UNHCR tent embroidered with words and pictures, was being stored at a convent in Spain where it was unintentionally thrown into a skip. It’s a big loss.

First Persons: Susan Bullock, Gerald Finley and Stephen Higgins on a 'Bluebeard's Castle' with a difference

SUSAN BULLOCK, GERALD FINLEY & STEPHEN HIGGINS 'Bluebeard's Castle' with a difference

How experience of dementia led to a unique take on Bartók's dark masterpiece

Tonight a version of Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle launches in the intimate surroundings of Stone Nest, a former Welsh chapel in London's West End. Its conductor along with soprano Susan Bullock and baritone Gerald FInley, alternating in the roles of Judith and Bluebeard with Gweneth Ann Rand and Michael Mayes, discuss its special claim on our attention.

 

Stephen Higgins, conductor and co-founder of Theatre of Sound

Royal Opera House lullabies for Little Amal

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE LULLABIES FOR LITTLE AMAL Much-loved refugee has a tender welcome

Near the end of her long journey, our refugee gets a welcome her real-life kin are denied

“I want to tell her that people will be good,” Tewodros Aregawe of Phosphoros Theatre confided to us as Little Amal closed her eyes on the giant bed made up for her in the Paul Hamlyn Hall, “that all the people with kind eyes who have walked alongside her and listened to her story will be louder than those who wish she wasn’t there”.

'Of course art doesn't change the world': Situationist artist Jacqueline de Jong on violence, eroticism and the importance of humour

The Dutch veteran's first UK retrospective has opened at MOSTYN in Wales

Jacqueline de Jong doesn’t want to talk politics. But this should have been foreseeable. After all, she has travelled to Mostyn, in Llandudno, for her first solo exhibition in a UK art institution. And this is a painting show, not a political rally.

First Person: ethnomusicologist Shumaila Hemani on global musical traditions and Concert for Afghanistan

No boundaries between east and west, north and south, in tonight's live music-making

In early 2020, the year that soon saw  COVID-19 lockdown, I served on the music faculty for Semester at Sea, Spring 2020 voyage, where I taught self-designed courses on global music cultures as well as a course called Soundscapes.

'The din is loud these days': playwright Cordelia Lynn on her imminent premiere at the Donmar Warehouse

PLAYWRIGHT CORDELIA LYNN On bringing together 'Love and Other Acts of Violence', her premiere at the Donmar Warehouse

The author of 'Love and Other Acts of Violence' sets out her stall

As I write this, we've just had our final day in the rehearsal room and are going into tech onstage next week with my new play, which is also reopening the Donmar not only to live performance but follows major renovations at their home address.