CIPHER

Batavierhuis in Rotterdam is a small concert venue and creative incubator housed in a historic building. It describes itself as a place for talent development, with music as its main focus and room left over for other art forms. The house works as a maker space for musicians, which means it serves as much as a place to develop new work as a room to play it in. The sources do not give a detailed history of the building or the organisation, so little can be said about how it came to take its current shape. The format is on the intimate side. The venue has presented what it calls an intimate musical theatre experience, billed as a first of its kind for Rotterdam, and that framing suggests shows meant to be watched closely rather than the loud, standing evenings of a large club. Live concerts are a regular part of the programme, and the line up has not been limited to one scene. One announced double concert, for example, featured a performance of classical Ottoman music, a reminder that the programming can reach well beyond the usual pop and rock circuit. Because the emphasis is on developing talent, Batavierhuis tends to be a place where musicians at different stages of their work can find an audience, and where visitors can hear artists in a close, low key setting. For anyone exploring Rotterdam's live music beyond the big halls and well known stages, it offers a more personal alternative, with the building itself giving the evenings a character that a purpose built hall would not.