New chairman and vice-chairman Supervisory Board

Opera Zuid is extremely pleased to announce that Ms Truze M. Lodder, business director of De Nederlandse Opera (now Nationale Opera & Ballet) for many years, has agreed to chair the Supervisory Board. As chairman, she will succeed Marc Heuvelmans, who will step down on 3 September due to having reached the maximum term. Another solid enrichment in the Supervisory Board is Mr Barry Braeken (director-director Weller Wonen Heerlen), who will assume the position of vice-chairman of the Supervisory Board.

Truze M. Lodder (Oud-Beijerland, 1948)
Truze Lodder was business director of De Nederlandse Opera from 1987 to 2012, and as such worked for many years with artistic director Pierre Audi (who sadly died far too young on 3 May this year). Together, they put De Nederlandse Opera on the international map, and their fruitful collaboration led to such unforgettable successes as the Monteverdi cycle, Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen and Rêves d’un Marco Polo by Claude Vivier. Truze Lodder also held many supervisory and board positions, including at Donemus, the Van Gogh Museum, Opera Europa, Maastricht University, Nationale Jeugdorkesten Nederland, the Stedelijk Museum, Dutch Railways and Van Lanschot. Truze Lodder received several awards: she was, among others, appointed Commandeur in de Orde van Oranje Nassau and received the Frans Banninck Cocq Penning of the city of Amsterdam.

Barry Braeken (Heerlen, 1975)
Barry Braeken is a committed administrator with deep roots in Heerlen, who effectively uses his experience as a history and social studies teacher and as a civil servant at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. As a former alderman, he combines administrative experience with local involvement. Previously, he was expo manager at IBA Parkstad and played a key role in urban renewal. Barry Braeken has been managing director of Weller Wonen in Heerlen since 2021. Until 2024, he was chairman of the Supervisory Board at Via Zuid.