Enchoris Podcast

Elias Ntais

Welcome to the Enchoris Podcast. A series of in-depth conversations with actors from the European Cultural and Creative Industry Landscape. Hosted by Elias Ntais, the CEO of Enchoris, this monthly podcast provides insights to the challenges the Arts Sector is facing and a system thinking approach to analysing and solving them. A knowledge sharing oriented discussion with Cultural Leaders offering access to creative Cultural Management approaches and solutions.

  1. 4d ago

    Enchoris Podcast | S2E1 | Julien Chavaz

    In the first episode of season two we talk to Julien Chavaz, Generalintendant and Operndirektor of Theater Magdeburg and, from 2028/29, Intendant of the Aalto-Theater and the Essener Philharmoniker. He was in Seoul, directing Peter Grimes for Korea National Opera, when the phone call about Essen came. This is a conversation about the journey that made that call possible: the agricultural sciences degree before the dramaturgy, the years assisting across Europe, the small company in Fribourg, and what changes when you take on a house of 440 people where many of them are better than you at their own job. He discussed what an Intendant should do when he arrives at a theatre and how to respect his predecessors work and decisions. In his words "you arrive at a house that existed 150 years before you and will exist 150 years after, and your job is to pass the torch on". It is also about what a theatre owes the city around it. Football chants on the opera house steps, a play built from the rise of a band out of a Sachsen-Anhalt village, the Wintermärchen that carries the financial year. Julien Chavaz talks about his craft. What opera directing physically is — standing in front of sixty people and making an idea land with your arms and your face. How much a story can be told without text, with Tatiana's letter scene in Tchaikovsky’s famous opera Eugene Onegin as the worked example. Why he designs from colour and rings his costume designer before anyone else. And the economics behind it: what commissioning a new opera actually costs in years, why co-production is the method he will carry into Essen, and why a chorus contract is often a better living than a solo career. On 20 December 2024 he was at an opera in Madrid when a car was driven into the Magdeburg Christmas market; he describes the interval, the missed calls, and the flight the next morning. The theatre went on to commission Wunde Stadt, a play about the attack, and he sets out the argument for making work from an event rather than staying silent about it. And then the election. Two weeks before this recording Sachsen-Anhalt voted, and he talks about what he expects: not open censorship, which would be unconstitutional, but interference — and his own question to anyone proposing to restrict artistic freedom and what a theatre may show, which is who exactly they imagine will come and stage it.

    Enchoris Podcast | S2E1 | Julien Chavaz
  2. Aug 18

    Enchoris Podcast | S1E11 | Thomas Venker

    In the eleventh episode of the Enchoris Podcast we talk to Thomas Venker — publisher and co-editor-in-chief of Kaput, a magazine whose subtitle has read "for insolvency and pop" for ten years, and before that editor-in-chief of Intro, at the time Germany's largest music magazine.In May 2026 Kaput did something the industry had stopped doing: it published a printed issue. This is a conversation about why, and about what music journalism costs the people who make it. We talk about writing as a form of expression and how different people have different writing styles. Sometimes 30000 characters are need to tell the whole story.We discuss his latest book 'Talking to Americans' that was published by Edition Fieber. A journey through the United States with photographer and friend Jonathan Forsyte. They embarked on a road trip randomly interviewing people who shared their life-stories and views. https://edition-fieber.com/ We talk about the Kapute Szene art space he runs in Cologne that tried to create a community space where art and music meet. Creating a setting for the art and music audiences to fuse and mingle. He was co-curator of the Monheim Triennale, the avant-garde music festival on the Rhine whose artistic director is Reiner Michalke. After a very successful run and the 2025 edition being a peaking point the Triennale was effectively terminated. The town's newly elected administration had no interest in that form of culture, so there was no longer room for a festival of avant-garde music. We discuss how a festival like that can change a small city and provide a worldview to the local youth while giving artists room to collaborate and evolve. https://monheim-triennale.de/What does a magazine owe a scene? What disappears when the writing about music disappears? And how much unpaid administrative work now stands between a talented musician and the funding they need? More from Thomas at Kaput Magazin https://kaput-mag.com/team

    Enchoris Podcast | S1E11 | Thomas Venker
  3. Jul 12

    Enchoris Podcast | S1E8 | Valentina Obando Jaramillo

    In the eighth episode of the Enchoris Podcast we discuss the challenges of festival programming and curation in an age of social media consumption and content oversaturation. Our guest Valentina Obando Jaramillo, is the main curator and program manager of the SEE THE SOUND Film Festival in Cologne, that runs parallel to  @soundtrack_cologne7971  What does it mean to curate a festival in a time when streaming platforms, short attention spans, and social media algorithms are changing how people find and watch films?How do you choose films that are not only relevant, but also creative and entertaining for an audience that includes both professionals and music lovers? The conversation also dives into the challenges facing filmmakers and composers today—from funding and festival curation to artificial intelligence, copyright, licensing, and the changing landscape of the creative industries. They explore why human creativity remains irreplaceable despite rapid technological advances.The episode highlights standout films from this year's festival, discusses diversity in filmmaking, and reflects on the importance of preserving music documentaries as part of our cultural heritage.Whether you're a filmmaker, composer, musician, or simply passionate about music and cinema, this episode offers an insightful look behind the scenes of one of Europe's most respected festivals.You can check out the schedules of both festivals at their respective websites:SEE THE SOUND - 15. Juli - 19. Juli 2026https://seethesound.de/SoundTrack_Cologne 23 - July 14 - July 17, 2026https://soundtrackcologne.de/

    Enchoris Podcast | S1E8 | Valentina Obando Jaramillo

About

Welcome to the Enchoris Podcast. A series of in-depth conversations with actors from the European Cultural and Creative Industry Landscape. Hosted by Elias Ntais, the CEO of Enchoris, this monthly podcast provides insights to the challenges the Arts Sector is facing and a system thinking approach to analysing and solving them. A knowledge sharing oriented discussion with Cultural Leaders offering access to creative Cultural Management approaches and solutions.