FEATS22

Melissa was joined by John Briggs, General Coordinator of FEATS for 2022. FEATS; Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies, is a pan-European celebration of amateur English-speaking theatre that takes place in a different centre each year and has been going since 1976. This years festival will run from May 26th to 29th in Kulturhaus Mersch and is hosted by The New World Theatre Club. It will feature 12 performances by groups from different European cities while a Fringe programme takes place in the afternoons

An American in Luxembourg & LCTO Bike Tours

Mike McQuaide is originally from America and is now a Luxembourgish citizen and is known on social networks as "An American in Luxembourg". He is an avid road cyclist and mountain biker and has teamed up with the Luxembourg City Tourist Office (LCTO) to offer a two hour casual bike ride tour through Luxembourg city. The tours will help you rediscover Luxembourg City from a locals perspective

InTune Guitar Lessons

Melissa was joined in studio by Charles Goodhew and Jason Kavanagh from InTune. InTune started in 2019 with the simple goal of providing good quality, professional guitar and music theory lessons to adults and children. Alongside private guitar lessons they also run workshops on topics such as improvisation, songwriting and musical interaction, as well as focusing on specific genres and styles. In the interview, Charles and Jason discuss their accessible approach to music with lessons that can be tailored to meet the needs of the student whether they’re an absolute beginner or an advanced musician.

Fundamental Monodrama Festival

Melissa was joined by Steve Karier who is an actor and the Festival Director, Founder and President of Fundamental. This year marks the 12th edition of the festival and it runs from May 20th to 29th. It will take place at Banannefabrik in Bonnevoie and is made up of 13 shows, 5 creations and 1 orchestra from 10 countries. The festival has an international focus and is committed to politically engaged theater production. The artists will present their creations or show you their work in progress, the beginnings of creations and projects in the making.

Luxembourg Guitar Festival

Melissa was joined by Josip Dragnić, Artistic Director of Luxembourg Guitar Festival happening May 14th-15th 2022. This is the first festival dedicated to classical guitar in Luxembourg and features concerts, masterclasses and lectures. There is also a competition for young guitar students from Luxembourg alongside an international guitar competition with no age limit. The goal of the festival is to promote excellence of guitar playing in Luxembourg.

Serbian contestant Konstrakta chats with RTL Today Radio's Eurovision Jan

Eurovision 2022 Interview - Konstrakta

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - Ochman

Sweden's Cornelia Jacobs charms Eurovision Jan

Eurovision 2022 Interviews Cornelia Jakobs

Lithuania's Monika Liu & Eurovision Jan in conversation

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - Monika Liu

Eurovision Jan chats with Malta's Emma Muskat

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - Emma Muscat

Eurovision Jan in conversation with Australia's Sheldon Riley

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - Sheldon Riley

The Netherlands' S10 speaks to RTL Today Radio's Eurovision Jan

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - S10

Eurovision Jan caught up with Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra, the favourites for this year's title.

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - Kalush Orchestra

Serve the City: Grouss Botz - The Big Clean Up

Melissa was joined by Nicolas Duprey and Jerome Bergeron from Serve the City. On May 14th, Serve the City are organising several clean-ups in Luxembourg as part of their Grouss Botz event. It will take place in different locations across Luxembourg gathering more than a hundred volunteers. 10 teams are already planned in numerous districts of the City and the South of the country. Grouss Botz is the occasion to restore social links within neighbourhoods and act together for cleaner cities and a greener tomorrow.

Denmark's Reddi catch up with our man on the ground, Eurovision Jan.

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - Reddi

Eurovision Jan grabs Germany's Malik Harris for a chat!

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - Malik Harris

Armenia's Rosa Linn chats with RTL Today Radio's Eurovision Jan

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - Rosa Linn

Ireland's Brooke speaks to RTL Today's Eurovision Jan.

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - Brooke

Eurovision Jan, our man in Turin, speaks to Finland's The Rasmus!

Eurovision 2022 Interviews - The Rasmus

Françoise Poos: Director of Programmes at Esch2022

Françoise Poos joined Melissa live in studio to tell us how the first few months of Esch2022 have been and what to expect next. As part of the European Capital of Culture , more than 2000 events will be taking place in the South of Luxembourg and in neighbouring France in 2022. The programme comprises a vast array of events from all artistic disciplines with a specific thematic focus on the transition of the region from the industrial past to a contemporary society of knowledge.

Jess Bauldry on Festrogen: Women-centric comedy festival

Festrogen is a women-centric comedy festival happening May 6-8th 2022. What started as a workshop to encourage more women to do stand-up comedy in Luxembourg and the greater region, quickly morphed into a three-day festival with 3 shows: '50 Ways To Leave Your Employer', 'Bestrogen of Festrogen' and 'The Clitoris Act'. The festival is co-organised by Jess Bauldry, Sharon VS, Erin Crouch, Mari Volar and Anshita Koul

Wou d’Uelzecht: Immersive Soundwalk in 8 languages

Melissa was joined by Catherine Kontz, a Luxembourgish composer and S. L. Grange, a multi-disciplinary artist and writer to tell us about their recent creation 'Wou d’Uelzecht'. 'Wou d’Uelzecht' is a 5km soundwalk following the river Alzette from Audun-le-Tiche to Esch-Alzette, created as part of Esch2022 European Capital of Culture and free to download. It can be done any time, on your own or in a group and is suitable for all ages.

Olga Pascenco: Ukrainian Brunch Events

Melissa was joined in studio by Olga Pascenco who is organising a Ukrainian brunch in Luxembourg on May 1st at Florence Café. The event will feature traditional Ukrainian dishes and music and Olga hopes this brunch will be the first of many! The goal of the event is to raise cultural awareness, create economic and networking opportunities for the Ukrainian community and raise funds for the Ukrainian refugees in Luxembourg. The event is free of charge and everyone from the community is welcome!

Interview with UPlay Martial Arts School

Melissa was joined in studio by Leonardo Neves founder and head coach at Uplay Martial Arts. Uplay specialises in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for children and adults, and also offers Muay Thai, Freestyle Wrestling, Boxing and Self Defence. Leonardo and Melissa discussed breaking down certain taboos around martial arts and getting more females involved in it, and how martial arts can have positive impacts on your mental health and confidence.

The Duck Race and Round Table Luxembourg

Melissa was joined by Gilles Walers, National Vice-President of Round Table Luxembourg. Round Table is a family of associations for men and women built around the values of bringing about change and excellence in ourselves and our community. Each year, Round Table organises the Duck Race which is now in its 21st year. The Duck Race is an event for the whole family and this year will benefit three of Luxembourg's charities: SOS Kannerduerf Lëtzebuerg, Fondation Autisme and Indiana Jos: Elisabeth

Interview with Ukranian Soul

Melissa chatted to Krystina Charniak and Steven Norrie about their newly formed group Ukrainian Soul which organises events for Ukrainian refugees in Luxembourg. The group is made up of locals and expats including some Ukrainian refugees. The main goal of their events is to bring  joy and happiness to Ukrainian refugees in Luxembourg. They aim to organise at least one big event per month and are currently looking for more volunteers as well as both equipment and monetary donations.

Melissa chatted to Krystina Charniak and Steven Norrie about their newly formed group Ukrainian Soul which organises events for Ukrainian refugees in Luxembourg. The group is made up of locals and expats including some Ukrainian refugees. The main goal of their events is to bring joy and happiness to Ukrainian refugees in Luxembourg. They aim to organise at least one big event per month and are currently looking for more volunteers as well as both equipment and monetary donations.

Anne Simon, Director of 'Richard II'

Anne Simon is an established Luxembourgish theatre director, who has worked in most of Luxembourg’s theatres and internationally in Barcelona, Hanoi, Salzburg and the UK. She is the director of Richard II, running at Théâtre National du Luxembourg from April 23 to May 4th 2022. 'Richard II' is one of William Shakespeare’s history plays, dealing with the last two years of Richard II’s reign and how he was overthrown by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, and eventually imprisoned and murdered 
This production has a reduced cast of only two actors and are accompanied by a cellist. Therefore, the tragedy is stripped down to the core of the plot as the dangers and limits of power, rank and gender expectations are laid bare.

Anne Simon is an established Luxembourgish theatre director, who has worked in most of Luxembourg’s theatres and internationally in Barcelona, Hanoi, Salzburg and the UK. She is the director of Richard II, running at Théâtre National du Luxembourg from April 23 to May 4th 2022. 'Richard II' is one of William Shakespeare’s history plays, dealing with the last two years of Richard II’s reign and how he was overthrown by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, and eventually imprisoned and murdered
This production has a reduced cast of only two actors and are accompanied by a cellist. Therefore, the tragedy is stripped down to the core of the plot as the dangers and limits of power, rank and gender expectations are laid bare.

Interview with LuxAI and QTrobot

To mark International Autism Awareness month, Melissa was joined by John McCahill who is the senior autism specialist and behavioral psychologist at LuxAI. LuxAI was born out of a research project at the University of Luxembourg and they have created QTrobot; an educational robot for children with autism and other special needs. Since the company was founded seven years ago, it has grown to be a large enterprise with robots in use all over the world in peoples homes, schools and universities and they recently featured in the New York Times.

Interview with Fontaines DC

Melissa chatted to Deego from Fontaines DC about their third album 'Skinty Fia' and their year long worldwide tour.

Festival Des Migrations Interview

Festival Des Migrations is organised by CLAE and this years festival marks the 39th edition. It is an event for meetings and exchanges between associations from Luxembourg and the Greater Region. Over the years, it has become a tradition in the social and cultural life of the country, a space for dialogue between the various components of Luxembourg society. The festival usually takes place during 3 days at Lux Expo, but this year it is spread out over 3 months from March 1st to May 31st and across the country.

Interview with MASKéNADA

Melissa is joined by Mirka and Fernando 
 
Melissa chatted to Mirka and Fernando from MASKéNADA to hear about their new project for Esch2022 'E roude Fuedem duerch de roude Buedem' which revives female images from old Luxembourgish stories and legends. Starting April 9th, on a listening tour through Ellergronn Forest, the whole family can learn about the "Ellergronner Schlass". You can listen to the story in 4 different languages on your mobile phone using the QR code. 1 story, 3 authors, 4 languages - Luxembourgish, French, English and Portuguese.

Melissa chatted to Mirka and Fernando from MASKéNADA to hear about their new project for Esch2022 'E roude Fuedem duerch de roude Buedem' which revives female images from old Luxembourgish stories and legends. Starting April 9th, on a listening tour through Ellergronn Forest, the whole family can learn about the "Ellergronner Schlass". You can listen to the story in 4 different languages on your mobile phone using the QR code. 1 story, 3 authors, 4 languages - Luxembourgish, French, English and Portuguese.

Interview with Filmmaker, Animator, Writer of 'Icarus' Carlo

Carlo is a Filmmaker, Animator and Writer born in Luxembourg. He worked at Pixar for 7 years an an animator and contributed to their major feature films including 'Toy Story 3', 'Cars 2', 'Brave' and 'Monsters University'. 'Icarus' is Carlo’s first feature film and he shared with Melissa how the film came together and what it's like being an animator

Interview with Burlesque Luxembourg

Burlesque Luxembourg began in 2019 and is the first Burlesque school in Luxembourg. A not-for-profit organization, their goals are focused on body positivity and empowering people to feel confident and sexy through dance and movement in a fun, safe and supportive way. They offer weekly classes in the city center and host workshops and entertainment for events such as birthdays, hen's parties and divorce parties.

More info

Julia Dauphinee Interview

Julia came into studio to tell us about her daughter Caroline who was diagnosed with brain cancer when she was just 20 months old. Julia and her husband had to travel back and forth to Paris with Caroline during her treatment as their is no children's oncology unit in Luxembourg. Caroline is now five years old and has been in remission for two years and is doing really well. Julia is creating awareness of their story to help other Luxembourg families who might themselves in a similar situation.

Karen from Voices International on the Home Stretch

Melissa was joined live in studio by Karen Humphries Assistant Director of Voices International Choir. Karen told us about what being a member of the choir is like and about their upcoming 25th anniversary Gala Concert happening Saturday April 2nd at the Conservatoire de la Ville where they will perform Jubilate Deo from Dan Forrest. The Gala concert will be performed in collaboration with the Eden Choir from El Sistema Luxembourg and the International School of Luxembourg Youth Choir. It is accompanied by the Gala Chamber Orchestra and Soloists Maya Libbey (Soprano) & Kathryn Fries (Alto) and directed by James Libbey. To find out more about the choir and tickets to the Gala Concert see here: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.voicesinternational.lu/">https://www.voicesinternational.lu/</a>

Melissa was joined live in studio by Karen Humphries Assistant Director of Voices International Choir. Karen told us about what being a member of the choir is like and about their upcoming 25th anniversary Gala Concert happening Saturday April 2nd at the Conservatoire de la Ville where they will perform Jubilate Deo from Dan Forrest. The Gala concert will be performed in collaboration with the Eden Choir from El Sistema Luxembourg and the International School of Luxembourg Youth Choir. It is accompanied by the Gala Chamber Orchestra and Soloists Maya Libbey (Soprano) & Kathryn Fries (Alto) and directed by James Libbey. To find out more about the choir and tickets to the Gala Concert see here: https://www.voicesinternational.lu/

Joe Mount joins Melissa on The Home Stretch ahead of their show at den Atelier.

Metronomy on The Home Stretch

Joe Mount joins Melissa on The Home Stretch ahead of their show at den Atelier. 
 
Melissa recently interviewed Joe Mount from Metronomy. They have just released their latest album Small World and are in the midst of their European tour

Melissa recently interviewed Joe Mount from Metronomy. They have just released their latest album Small World and are in the midst of their European tour

The Kilkennys: Irish folk and ballad group.

Melissa was joined in studio by Davie Cashin the lead singer from The Kilkennys. The four multi-instrumentalists formed in 1998 and have spent the last twenty years touring the world. This is their fifth year playing Luxembourg for Saint Patrick's Day

Interview with Letz Get Fit's Aoife Sheehan

Melissa is joined in studio by Aoife from Letz Get Fit to discuss their first year in business and the importance of keeping fit and making new friends through sport.

Jessica Fostekew: Comedian, Writer & Actor

Jessica Fostekew is a comedian, actor and writer. She is a regular host of BBC Radio 4’s Comedy Club and co-presenter of the hugely popular The Guilty Feminist podcast, now surpassing 65 million downloads. She is also host of the Hoovering podcast 
On screen Jessica has been seen shaking her funny bones as an actor in the hugely acclaimed BBC2 sitcom from Sharon Horgan, Motherland, as well as the BBC/Netflix sitcom Cuckoo. 
 
She writes for comedians on shows such as Have I Got News For You (BBC1), Jason Manford’s Funny Old Week (ITV), 8 out of 10 Cats (C4) and Mock The Week (BBC 2). She is currently in the middle of writing a narrative comedy for TV, a one-off drama for radio and some shorts “just for the shitting love of it

Jessica Fostekew is a comedian, actor and writer. She is a regular host of BBC Radio 4’s Comedy Club and co-presenter of the hugely popular The Guilty Feminist podcast, now surpassing 65 million downloads. She is also host of the Hoovering podcast 
On screen Jessica has been seen shaking her funny bones as an actor in the hugely acclaimed BBC2 sitcom from Sharon Horgan, Motherland, as well as the BBC/Netflix sitcom Cuckoo. 

She writes for comedians on shows such as Have I Got News For You (BBC1), Jason Manford’s Funny Old Week (ITV), 8 out of 10 Cats (C4) and Mock The Week (BBC 2). She is currently in the middle of writing a narrative comedy for TV, a one-off drama for radio and some shorts “just for the shitting love of it

Stark Bollock Naked

Interview with the creators of the hit play "Stark Bollock Naked" running at Neimenster from March 8-12th

John Rech from Zeltik Festival

Melissa was joined in studio by John Rech, organiser of the Zeltik Festival and director for the Cultural Service of the City of Dudelange. John is also a musician with his solo project Dream Catcher and was also in the hit 90s band T42.

Get home happy with Melissa Dalton’s mix of fun games, engaging stories and big tunes you’ll want to sing along to.

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