Martijn Padding's new opera Laika launched at the Holland Festival

Thea Derks studied English at Groningen University and musicology at Amsterdam University. She graduated with honours in 1996. She was singer/songwriter of the new-wave group Tess. She lectured on modern music in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw from 2003–12, gives pre-concert talks throughout the Netherlands, and is a reporter and programmer for Radio 4, the Dutch classical music station. She recently published a biography on Reinbert de Leeuw that has been well received. www.theaderks.wordpress.com