Do you want to know more about the Rode Brug neighbourhood and do you like a nice walk?  The walking route with media tour through the neighbourhood is based on the biography of baker Jan de Groot, who was born in 1896 in the Rode Brugbuurt.
The route starts at Lauwerecht 155 (Jan de Groot’s birthplace) and takes about three quarters of an hour.

Sunday 1 May 2016 saw the performance of the city opera Onderweg, a confrontation between composed music and original music by refugees. Bob Zimmerman wrote the music for Onderweg based on a libretto by Ruben van Gogh and poems by Baban Kirkuki. This libretto was inspired by Ongekend Bijzonder, an oral history project with refugees. Zimmerman’s music exploits the contrasts with music from Iran, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Syria, which has been given a dramatic place within the opera’s framework. Onderweg could be seen on the Cultural Sunday Destination reached on 1 May 2016 at three publicly accessible locations in the centre of Utrecht.

In total, the vocal and instrumental cast of the opera consisted of eighty musicians and singers from various backgrounds under the musical direction of Jurriaan Grootes. The main roles were played by baritone Arash Roozbehi, mezzo-soprano Nienke Nillesen and soprano Tamar Niamut. The direction of Onderweg was in the hands of Geert van Boxtel and Alejandra Peña.

The city opera Onderweg (On the road) follows two refugees in their search for a new identity and a new existence. They turn up at the Utrecht City Hall, the official face of the city. In the Utrecht Archives, they search for insight, knowledge and understanding. In TivoliVredenburg a confrontation with the people of Utrecht takes place: what does it mean to be Dutch?

Documentary

Ted Alkemade recorded the creation of the opera in images, interviews and opera fragments.