Accordionist Vincent van Amsterdam wins Dutch Music Prize

Vincent van Amsterdam has been named winner of the Dutch Music Prize. The award is the highest recognition for a musician in classical music, awarded by the Performing Arts Fund on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. He will receive the prize on Friday 24 January 2025 at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht. This is the first time in the 43-year history of the Dutch Music Prize that the prize has been awarded to an accordionist.

The committee on Vincent van Amsterdam

Vincent van Amsterdam is a fine music omnivore with an extraordinarily keen eye for detail. The Dutch Music Prize committee praises his hunger and constant search for repertoire for his instrument: the accordion. He plays a wide range of existing compositions and asks composers to write additions to the repertoire. With a rare concentration and inviting stage presence, he manages to captivate his listeners time and again. The committee sees in Vincent van Amsterdam a musician with a crystal-clear concept of what he wants to say musically. His playing is characterised by its own signature and exceptional virtuosity.

Concert and awards ceremony on 24 January

The presentation of the Dutch Music Prize will take place during the AVROTROS Friday Concert by the National Youth Orchestra, conducted by Otto Tausk. Together with them, Van Amsterdam performs the Accordion Concerto by Mathilde Wantenaar, which premiered in Vienna in 2023.
About Vincent van Amsterdam

Vincent van Amsterdam is an accordionist with a great musical personality. With his interpretations, he shows the many surprising possibilities of the accordion to his audience. Van Amsterdam studied at the Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Tilburg, where he also obtained his master's degree cum laude. He collaborated with composers such as Daan Manneke, Aart Strootman and Mathilde Wantenaar, who wrote music especially for him. He has performed as a soloist with several orchestras, including the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Residentie Orkest and the Bochumer Symphoniker. He also organises the Van Amsterdam Summer Course, where he shares his knowledge and love of the accordion with young musicians.

About the Dutch Music Prize

Candidates of the Dutch Music Prize follow a study programme focusing on personal musical development. They work together with musicians from home and abroad. At the end of the course, the Dutch Music Prize committee advises the Performing Arts Fund whether the prize can be awarded. The committee consists of: Mauricio Fernandez, Ad 's-Gravesande, Marcel Mandos, Simone Meijer, Bart Visman, Ralph van Raat and Karin Manuel as independent chairman. Antony Hermus was Vincent van Amsterdam's mentor during the study programme. 

Previous winners of the Dutch Music Prize included soprano Elisabeth Hetherington, organist Laurens de Man, baritone Raoul Steffani and pianist Thomas Beijer.