Joint directorship for Nederlandse Reisopera as of 1 September

The Supervisory Board of Nederlandse Reisopera (Dutch National Touring Opera, Enschede, The Netherlands) is delighted to announce that a new joint directorship will be at the helm as of 1 September 2024. British Director Sam Brown and current interim Director Rudy van Wijk will take on the duties of Artistic Director and Managing Director respectively.
‘We are delighted that Rudy van Wijk and Sam Brown will be joint directors of Nederlandse Reisopera. Both combine a great passion for opera with in-depth knowledge of opera’ (Peter van Laarhoven, Chair of the Supervisory Board).

Dual directorship

Rudy van Wijk is currently the interim Managing Director of Nederlandse Reisopera. The Supervisory Board of Nederlandse Reisopera has opted to appoint both an Artistic Director and a Managing Director from 1 September 2024. Both directors will report to the supervisory board. Peter van Laarhoven: ‘We are delighted that Rudy van Wijk and Sam Brown will be joint directors of Nederlandse Reisopera. Both combine a great passion for opera with in-depth knowledge of opera. In his role as Managing Director, Rudy will be able to build on the extensive experience he has gained with other opera and theatre companies over the past thirty years. Sam is an award-winning, internationally renowned opera director who is ideally suited to strengthen and further expand the artistic quality and positioning of Nederlandse Reisopera in the role of Artistic Director. Sam is capable of linking universal themes from operas to the challenges and issues of our time. In addition, he involves local communities in his productions in all kinds of ways.’

Sam Brown
Sam Brown (1982) is generally regarded as one of the most important British opera directors of his generation. He began his career as Assistant Director for Opera North in his hometown of Leeds and won the Ring Award and the European Opera Directing Prize in 2011. He made his professional debut with the Bavarian State Opera and has worked in many opera houses throughout the whole of Europe. Recent productions include Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame for Deutsche Oper Berlin and Wagner's Parsifal for Opera North. Brown: ‘I am happy and honoured to be joining Nederlandse Reisopera as Artistic Director. It is a huge privilege to be able to lead a company that has such strong ties to its hometown of Enschede and its audiences across the whole of the Netherlands, and that has a proud history of creating innovative, high-quality productions. Nederlandse Reisopera has some wonderful productions lined up for the 2025-2028 National Arts Funding period. I am looking forward to meeting our audiences and collaborating with the staff of Nederlandse Reisopera to present our work and artists in the Netherlands and beyond.’

Rudy van Wijk
Enschede native Rudy van Wijk (1963) took on the role of interim Managing Director for Nederlandse Reisopera on 1 February 2024. After training as a silversmith, he worked for the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam for fifteen years. He started there as a prop maker and later held the positions of Stage Manager and Production Manager. He subsequently worked as an Executive Producer for Noord Nederlands Toneel, Opera Zuid and Nederlandse Reisopera, amongst others. Van Wijk: ‘Forty-five years after my first visit to Opera Forum with my mother, I am honoured to take on this wonderful role of Managing Director. Who would have thought! Back in my hometown after all these years and in such a fantastic role. I look forward to working with Sam and all the staff of the Dutch National Touring Opera to create exceptional productions. I aim to build on the quality and standard of our predecessors in these challenging times for our art form.”