Dianto Reed Quintet has received the 'Kersjesprijs 2024'

‘Het Kersjes Fonds’, one of the Netherlands’ foremost private institutions dedicated to promoting music, has awarded the prestigious 2024 Kersjesprijs to Dianto Reed Quintet. This accolade comes with a financial grant of €50,000.

Additionally, the violin and conducting scholarships have been bestowed upon İdil Yunkuş and Sebastiaan van Yperen, who will each receive €15,000. A further €10,000 stipend has been awarded to the Skazka Quartet as part of an extra string quartet scholarship this year.

The recipients are expected to utilise the funds within a three-year period for talent development and other essential resources to foster their burgeoning careers. The award ceremony is set to take place on the evening of Wednesday, 4th December, at De Duif in Amsterdam.

Recognising the increasingly global nature of the music industry, ‘het Kersjes Fonds’ has, from 2024 onwards, expanded its eligibility criteria to include international musicians with strong and enduring ties to the Netherlands in its selection process for scholarships and prizes.

Dianto Reed Quintet, this year’s recipient of the Kersjesprijs, is comprised of María González Bullón (oboe), Ovidi Martí Garasa (saxophone), María Losada Burgo (bassoon), María Luisa Olmos Ros (clarinet), and Erik Steven Rojas Toapanta (bass clarinet). The five Spanish musicians, who have all completed their master’s degrees in Amsterdam, have garnered multiple first-place awards in international competitions and were recently honoured with the Spanish distinction ‘Ensemble Emergente FestClásica 2024’. Since their inception in 2020, the ensemble has enjoyed a thriving performance career, regularly appearing on prominent Dutch stages such as Hertz Hall at TivoliVredenburg, NJO Muziekzomer, and the 2024 ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ festival. They have also performed at numerous festivals across Europe, collaborating with organisations such as Jeunesse Musik Erleben and the Philharmonie Luxembourg.

In their commendation, ‘het Kersjes Fonds’ noted: “Dianto Reed Quintet masterfully combines impeccable technique with vivid, expressive playing. Their lively and engaging stage presence is both musically astute and thoughtfully conceived; they interpret musical phrasing with originality, incorporating choreography into their imaginative performances.”