The future of the Amsterdam music theater company Orkater seems to have been saved for the time being thanks to the granting of a private cultural subsidy. It is a total amount of 3.6 million euros from the Hartwig Foundation. That budget is spread over a period of four years. Orkater announced this on Thursday In a press release.
In September last year it was announced that the Amsterdam Theater Company fell outside the boat in the distribution of subsidies from the Performing Arts Fund. According to the fund, Orkater made a “limited contribution to the geographical spread of the Dutch performing arts”, while director Wieke ten Cate stressed that 90 percent of the visitors from outside Amsterdam came.
The message from the Performing Arts Fund was hard at Orkater, all the more because the theater company received a positive advice but did not get enough points to get money.
The loss of the subsidy pot caused great uncertainty at Orkater – the contribution of the Performing Arts Fund covers a large part of the budget. For talent development, the stage group received financial support from the municipality of Amsterdam and the central government, but large projects, which also yield the most, were funded with money from the performing arts fund. There was a fear that many projects could not take place and that jobs would disappear.
On Thursday, Orkater reports that the private subsidy from the Hartwig Foundation is ‘invaluable’. “After an uncertain year, it offers Orkater a solid foundation to continue to make new, progressive music theater.”
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