Thursday 11 October, 1-2pm
Upper Chamber
Toi Poneke

Presented by co-founders David Dramm and Anne la Berge

Splendor is a renovated public bath house run by fifty top musicians in the heart of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Operating without subsidy, Splendor is a creative laboratory, workspace and venue primarily supported by its 1200-member public. It is used by the fifty musicians and their projects for rehearsals, concerts, recordings, broadcasts and meetings. The musicians cover the entire spectrum of musical life in the Netherlands from soloists in the Concertgebouw, Radio Philharmonic and Netherlands Opera to leading jazz, pop and folk music figures as well as experimental musicians and composers. There is no programming policy nor usage limit for the musicians and their guests.

Founded in 2013 by 50 musicians and their public, Splendor now presents over 300 events annually, and is considered an alternative central-nervous-system for Dutch music.

Their discussion promises to open doors and minds to the possibilities for live music now and in the future. We will explore Splendor’s innovative approaches to sustainability, financial models, collective thinking, and the challenge of running a musician-run venue without “programmers”. After five years, what has worked and what hasn’t?