Bimhuis
The Bimhuis is the central venue for jazz and improvised music in Amsterdam with an average of 150-200 performances per year.
The name is derived from the abbreviation of the Professional Association of Improvising Musicians (BIM), which operates the facility. It was founded in 1973. Until the summer of 2004, the Bimhuis was in the Oude Schans 73–74. Since 2005 it has been part of the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ , a building complex on the south bank of the IJ , the main building of which is used for classical music performances. The Bimhuis is a black box protruding on poles to the side of the main building, the glass facade of which allows a view of the old town from the inside. The address is Piet Heinkade 3. There is also a café, which is only open to concert-goers during concerts, and a restaurant.
Since the Bimhuis is well suited for recording concerts, numerous albums have been recorded there, for example by Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy , Sean Bergin , Willem van Manen and Anthony Braxton . The Dutch VPRO broadcasting company is also taking advantage of the situation and regularly broadcasts concerts from there.
The institution is supported by the Ministry of Culture (CRM) and the City of Amsterdam. In 1974 the Foundation for Jazz and Improvised Music in the Netherlands (SJIN) began its work in the Bimhuis with a small grant of 40,000 euros . The SJIN had asked about 550,000 euros from the CRM.
The Bimhuis has an advisory board made up of equal numbers of musicians (2007: Guus Janssen , Wilbert de Joode and Corrie van Binsbergen ) and cultural officials.
Web links
- Official website (Dutch, English)
- Christian Broecking (Die Zeit) on the Bimhuis
- Reiner Michalke on the opening of the new Bimhuis
Coordinates: 52 ° 22 ′ 41 ″ N , 4 ° 54 ′ 48 ″ E