Press Jury

Hans Heg was born in Maartensdijk and completed his education in Utrecht. He began his career in journalism in 1963, writing articles on music for the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and the Verenigde Noordhollandse Dagbladen. He transferred to the Algemeen Handelsblad six years later and then worked for the NRC Handelsblad for a short period. He was appointed music editor of de Volkskrant in 1971, where he remained until his retirement in 2001. Since this time he has worked for broadcasting and for the NOS in particular. In collaboration with various producers he has made TV documentaries on Bruno Maderna, Willem Noske, Kirill Kondrashin, the Holland Festival and Alfred Schnittke. He is currently once more active as a free-lance journalist. On his retirement from de Volkskrant he was created Ridder in the Orde van Oranje Nassau.

Paul Korenhof displayed a passion for theatre in general and music theatre in particular at an early age, going on to study literary theory, dramaturgy and musicology and specialising in theatre, opera and vocal music. He has worked for several newspapers as theatre critic and for various periodicals as contributor on operatic matters and editor. After a period as head of dramaturgy for De Nederlandse Opera he became editor in chief for several periodicals including the monthly Luister. He has also compiled and presented a radio programme on opera and classical singing for almost forty years. He currently teaches literature in Leiden and musical and theatrical history in Maastricht.

Peter van der Lint is the music editor for daily newspaper Trouw. He studied musicology at the University of Amsterdam and also sang in the Netherlands Concert Choir and the Collegium Musicum Amstelodamensis. He has been on the editorial staff of various music journals and was a member of the editorial staff of Odeon, the Netherlands Opera’s own magazine, for many years. Singers he has interviewed include Thomas Hampson, Cristina Deutekom, John Tomlinson, Mirella Freni, Renée Fleming, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Willard White, Rolando Villazón, Anne-Sofie von Otter, Cecilia Bartoli, Olaf Bär, Nelly Miricioiu and Anja Silja. His articles on 20th century music for Trouw have been collected and republished as Honderd jaar in twaalf tonen – Componisten uit de twintigste eeuw. In 2008 he published a series of articles entitled De meisjes van Puccini, dealing with the feminine characters in Puccini’s operas and the composer’s many love affairs.

Erna Metdepenninghen founded Jeugd Opera with Gerard Mortier in Gent in 1964, an association for the reprofiling of opera as an art form in Belgium. She has worked for BRT, later VRT, since 1966, first as assistant to Etienne van Neste for his weekly opera and bel canto programme and later on a series of her own programmes for BRT3 and later Klara. She delivered commentaries and carried out interviews for broadcasts from the Monnaie, Flemish Opera and the Queen Elisabeth Vocal Competition. She was music critic for De Standaard from 1970 to 2005 and also contributed to various national and international music periodicals. She was chairman of the Vereniging van de Belgische Muziekpers from 1990 to 2006 and now holds the position of honorary chairman; she has been vice-chairman of the Vereniging van de Internationale Muziekpers since 1994.

Marjolijn Sengers studied violin and piano at the Brabants Conservatorium and was already active as music reporter and critic for the Eindhovens Dagblad en Brabants Dagblad whilst still a student. She has also contributed to the music magazine Luister, edited several music periodicals and worked as programme co-ordinator for the Concertzender and various other local radio networks.