Resume

Jos van Kan finished his study in 1987 at the Academie voor Expressie in Utrecht. After this study he worked for some years as assistant-director with Dora van der Groen, Ivo van Hove, Lidwien Roothaan and Johan Simons. He followed, as a volunteer, rehearsals of Pierre Audi (De Nederlandse Opera) and William Forsythe (Ballet Frankfurt). He made his debut as a theatre director at Fact in Rotterdam in 1989. He staged around 70 theatre plays, music-theatre shows and opera's.

He started staging plays in The Netherlands at Het Zuidelijk Toneel in Eindhoven ("Night"-H.Pinter, "Kwartet"-H.Muller, "Compagny"-S.Becket), Artemis in Den Bosch ("De zomer van Aviya"-P.Mol, "Vertel Medea Vertel"-P.Mol and "Het verhaal van paard Parel"-E. de Volder) and Carrousel in Amsterdam ("Suddenly last summer"-T.Williams).

In 1992 he was invited to a masterclass given by German theatre director Manfred Karge at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Maastricht. Since this masterclass he works regularly in Germany where he staged plays and music-theatre shows: Staatstheater Schwerin ("The Maids"-J.Genet, "Bachea"-Euripides, "Masterclass"-T.Macnally), Schauburg Munchen ( "Springawakenings"- F.Wedekind), Bad Herschfelder Festspiele ("Der junge Rabe"-F.K.Waechter), Schauspiel Essen ("Ab Heute heisst du Sara"-I.Deutschkron, "Elling"-I.Ambjornsen) and Theater Osnabrueck ("Cloaca"- M. Goos, 2006, "The Importance of Being Ernest"- O.Wilde, 2008).

Music and music-theatre became more important in his work. From 1995 until 2003 Jos van Kan was artistic-leader of Theatergroep Maccus in Delft. He transformed this theatre company into a music-theatre company. At Theatergroep Maccus he staged classical plays and he gave texts and music for music-theatre and chamber opera's in commission. He directed an a-capella musical and a chamber-opera by the composer Marlijn Helder but also a baroque opera, Purcell's "King Arthur" (in collaboration with L.Coltof / Huis aan de Amstel). This show was the opening of the Holland Festival 1999 in Amsterdam. His adaptation of "Op hoop van zegen" by Herman Heijermans, was nominated for the Hans Snoeck award. ?With the composer Micha Hamel he created ten music-theatre shows. For instance a show with two singing actors and a special build Dutch street-organ ("Foppe en Douwe"-P.Mol), a chamber opera for four singers and the carillion of the New Church on the Market in Delft ("Hannes"-B.Kommerij) and an oratorium for eight actresses and three female pianists on the Spuiplein in The Hague ("The Piano Panorama").

During the seven years he worked at Theatergroep Maccus he also staged shows at other companies. E.g. "Fietsen", a chamber opera written by Astrid Kruisselbrink at Het Paleis in Antwerp, Belgium. And the baroque opera, "Argenore", by W.von Bayreuth at the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam, Germany. This show was invited in 2002 to the Barokfestspiele in Bayreuth.

He worked several times with the Ives Ensemble in Amsterdam where he directed works of the composers M.Feldman ("Words and Music" 1997), G.Barry ("Things hat gain" 2001), and S.Sciarrino ("Infinito Nero" 2001 and "Natura morta"2004).

In 2003, Jos van Kan became a freelancer again. He directed "Histoire du Soldat" by Stavinsky at Oostpool in Arnhem, a co-production with Het Gelders Orkest and Introdans. At Theatergroep Wederzijds in Amsterdam he directed "Keteltje" by C.Bruijn and W. Sterringa in a nature reserve. "H.E.A.R.T." by Tjeerd Bisschof, a show specially made for civil servants, was performed by Theatergroep Wederzijds at Ministries and City Halls.

He got a grant from the F.A.P.K. to study opera-styles on three continents. He visited the New York City Opera (U.S.A.) in 2004 , the Lan Yang Taiwanese Opera Company (Taiwan) and Teatro di San Carlo (Napoli, Italy) in 2005.

He initiated and staged in Taipei in 2007 "The Second Goodbye" a chamber opera composed by Marlijn Helder at the Taiyuan Puppet Theatre Company. A show in collaboration with Ulrike Quade. After the opening night at The National Theatre and Concert Hall in Taipei this show travelled to festivals in Beijing and Shanghai (China). In the same year he directed "Below Zero" at the Visual Theatre Festival in Singapore also with Ulrike Quade and Marlijn Helder with whom he worked together more often.

He staged concerts at Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. "De keuze van de actrice: Ariane Schluter" in 2006 and "Ogen Dicht ?" in 2008. "Ogen dicht ?" was one of the five concerts for children in Het Concertgebouw of which Anneke Hogenstein and Jos van Kan were the curators.

In 2007 he staged "The story of the maid Zerline" by H.Broch at Orkater. The actress Ariane Schluter was nominated for her part of Zerline for the Theo d'Or (award for the best theatre actress of the year). The music was composed by Micha Hamel.

In the same year he staged "Vloed" by Herman van de Wijdeven at the Zeeland Nazomer Festival in the open air, at the filled up old sluices in Hansweert. Marlijn Helder composed the music. At De Wetten van Kepler in Den Bosch Jos van Kan staged three other works of Herman van de Wijdeven: "Witlox"(2003), "Biest" (2005) and "Zolang het sneeuwt"( 2008). At De Wetten van Kepler he also staged the theatre worldpremiere of "Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx (2007), and "Winterkoorts" by Tjeerd Bisschof (2008). For all the shows at De Wetten van Kepler, Wiebe Gotink composed the music.

In 2008 he directed in collaboration with the Korean composer Seung-Ah Oh at Slagwerkgroep Den Haag "Words and Beyond: Hwang Jin-Yi". And in the same year he staged at Stichting Octopus "Black Feather Rising", a new chamber opera by the Indian composer Param Vir.

His fourth production with the Ives Ensemble, in 2010, was a new work of the composer Richard Rijnvos, "Die Kammersängerin".

TEACHER and COACH

Beside his work as a stage director Jos van Kan teaches at Conservatories and Academies of Dramatic Art. He teached at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague, the Conservatory in Arnhem /Zwolle and Fontys Hogeschool in Eindhoven. In 2009 he staged "Kwartetten" (Elmer Schonberger), a collaboration of the Conservatory Maastricht and the Academy of Dramatic Art Maastricht. He works regularly at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, where he staged in 2009 "Met gesloten Ogen" (Marguerite Duras). In collaboration with voice-coach Eric Hermans.

In 2010 he teached at PPS in Battambang, Cambodia.

Jos van Kan also coaches young theaterdirectors. E.g. Shanti Straub with "Balast" at the OverIJ Festival and Melih Gencboyaci with "Lost and Found" at Frascati Productions. Both in 2010, Amsterdam.