Ruud van Eeten: 'Now it's Reeshof's turn!'

Ruud is originally from the South Limburg town of Obbicht. That town was soon exchanged for Tilburg when Ruud went to study at the Conservatory in 1991. In the 28 years that Ruud has lived in Tilburg a lot has changed. He is happily married, father of three children and busy working as a director, board member, coach, strategist and conductor. The inner city of Tilburg has also undergone a major metamorphosis. According to Ruud, the only thing that has changed little or nothing is the Reeshof. 'The municipality of Tilburg started building the Reeshof in the 1980s. An enormous number of new houses have been built, but the entire infrastructure has remained in place. It's our time now.'

'Tilburg is where I could develop myself'.

'Ever since I was 7 years old, I've wanted to make music. In the church village where I lived, the harmony often passed by.' Ruud had to and would be one of them. 'When I started with the harmony it turned out that I had talent for this. For me it was then logical to go to the Conservatory in Tilburg. Because that harmony was respected, my parents were quite proud that I was going to do that. Tilburg is where I developed myself in music. After a few years I moved to Rotterdam for a short time with my girlfriend at the time. Rotterdam's mentality is quite similar to that of Tilburg: not bullshitting. Where Rotterdam has rebuilt the city quite a bit, Tilburg does the same. When I came here it was quite a raw city. Still, I love Tilburg more than Rotterdam, it's more relaxed here: Brabant atmosphere.'

A visionary city with fertile land'.

Ruud has an outspoken line-up of terms that perfectly encompass our city: a festival city, a city of creators, enterprising, fruitful, visionary, decisive and with an enormous vitality by all students. Longer said, that's what it is:

'Tilburg is a city where there is room for initiative; we are open to new things without the old being squeezed out as a result. There is a healthy breeding ground for things to flourish and grow. We master the mentality of just doing it. We dare to look ahead and we dare to innovate. This is reflected in areas such as the Piushaven and the Spoorzone, but also in the establishment of a maker's fund, the courage to recalibrate your cultural vision and the clustering of the arts: now there is a fantastic university complex. The concert and theatre halls together are a unique combination. Take Eindhoven for comparison. There it is completely separate from each other. We are a visionary city with fertile land. Makers thrive here and there is plenty of talent and potential. That's certainly something we can be proud of in Tilburg.'