The annual Kersjesprijs will be awarded to the Navarra String Quartet on 2 December 2017 in the Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. The prize, worth €50,000, is awarded yearly to outstanding young musicians. Sixteen-year-old Noa Wildschut will receive the violin scholarship (€15,000). The Animato Kwartet will be awarded the string quartet scholarship, also €15,000. The conductor scholarship of €10,000 goes to conductor/composer Leonard Evers.
The Anglo-Dutch Navarra String Quartet was founded in 2002 at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. The quartet consists of violinist Magnus Johnston (1979), violinist Marije Ploemacher-Johnston (1982), violist Simone van der Giessen (1984) and cellist Brian O’Kane (1985). Since their formation they have immersed themselves in the quartet repertoire with passion and have won many prizes at international competitions
Sixteen-year-old violinist Noa Wildschut (*2001) made her debut at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in The Night of the Promising. She began her violin studies with Coosje Wijzenbeek; currently she is studying with Vera Beths. She is also a scholarship holder from the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein.
