Musical ingenuity from the kitchen

The Kitchen Ballads project is a collaboration between Touki Delphine (Eckhardt And The House, Sheila And The Kit, Kopna Kopna) and soprano Bernadeta Astari (winner of the Dutch Classical Talent award). This party forms a tasteful chamber music orchestra with the help of electronical instruments, kitchen machines and simple cookware.

Rik Elsgeest, Bo Koek and John van Oostrom from Touki Delphine graduated from conservatory in the summer of 2003. Ever since, this multimedia trio mixes high- and low brow art into eclectic and visual music-and theatre performances.

The Jakarta born Bernadeta Astari graduated cum laude from the Utrecht Conservatory in 2012. The soprano is praised for her warm, powerful voice, that is able to lift operas as well as chamber music to glorious heights. She is currently a member of the Dutch Travel Opera company who are on tour with their critically acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim's musical-opera A Little Night Music.

Kitchen Ballads is a song-cycle for soprano and electronical music, beautiful 17th century ballads by Händel, Monteverdi, Purcell, Vivaldi en Ravel in a divergent musical environment. The songs are performed in a theatrical setting. Each song is supported by a living room act from the "Encyclopedia for the Modern Housewife", published in 1979, not entirely coincidentally the year of birth of the men of Touki Delphine.

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