Accordionist Vincent van Amsterdam wins the Dutch Music Prize (NMP). Awarded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the NMP is dedicated to Dutch musicians who have completed a two-year artistic development trajectory towards an international career. Recently, soprano Elisabeth Hetherington also received the award.
Vincent van Amsterdam began his trajectory for the Dutch Music Prize back in corona days. With his mentor, Anthony Hermus, conductor of the Netherlands Youth Orchestra, he still turned the page after that uncertain time of cancelling, continuing, cancelling and continuing. ‘He is a brilliant man full of energy,’ Van Amsterdam tells Podium. ‘From him, I learned: do, do, do. It feels very different if you have ten things plotted and get five commitments than if you plotted two and only get one commitment.’
His development path had two pillars: baroque repertoire on the one hand and contemporary music on the other. For the baroque, Van Amsterdam took lessons from conductor and organist Ton Koopman. He taught him to let the music vibrate and live. The fact that baroque music fits so well on an instrument that didn’t even exist at the time of the baroque has to do with the accordion’s many dynamic and expression possibilities.
Many composers dedicated works to Vincent van Amsterdam, a great ambassador to new repertoire. Some examples:
Willem Boogman – Een oog in de zee
Willem Jeths – Accordion Concerto
Manneke, Daan – Tombeau pour Ton de Leeuw
Donemus congratulates Vincent with this prestigious prize!
Composers in the crosshairs of our attention