Composer Mathilde Wantenaar awarded the Buma Classical Award

A surprise for Mathilde Wantenaar. Before her ‘Accordeonconcert’ had its world premiere, the 30-year-old from Amsterdam received the Buma Classical Award in Vienna! According to the BumaStemra figures, Wantenaar has managed to achieve the most income from copyright in 2023. In doing so, she leaves behind predominantly older and male composers and arrangers.

A wise choice

After completing her classical composition studies at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, Wantenaar studied classical singing at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. For three years, she divided her time between her composition practice and singing studies. But in 2019 she decided to focus on composition only because of her successful orchestral commission ‘Prélude à une nuit américaine’ for the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the opera commission ‘A song for the moon’ for Dutch National Opera. It turned out as a wise choice.

Versatile composer

Wantenaar has since worked with individual musicians including vocalists, instrumentalists, small ensembles and large orchestras. She is versatile as a composer because of her craftsmanship and openness to many genres. She wrote and collaborated with the Dutch National Opera, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Groot Omroepkoor, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Wishful Singing, Liza Ferschtman, Ralph van Raat, Johannette Zomer and many others. Her music is described as lyrical, enchanting and eclectic but authentic.

Well deserved and earned

“Modesty adorns man, because Mathilde points to the role of others in her career. People who encourage her or open doors for her, but in doing so she is selling herself short. Mathilde is a top creator, who can create something special from seemingly nothing. She stands head and shoulders above the competition. She can more than support herself from her composition assignments. In fact, nothing extra can be added at the moment. That characterizes her quality and it is more than right that she receives the Buma Classical Award.”

Frank Helmink, directeur Buma Cultuur

Buma Classical Award

Buma Cultuur presents Buma Awards, of which the Buma Classical Award is part. It is an oeuvre prize for contemporary composers who have been active in the Dutch music sector for a long time. They connect modern movements with newly composed “serious” music, and his or her work comes to the attention of the bigger audience. Previous winners are:

• Martin Fondse (2022)
• Toek Numan (2021)
• Aart Strootman (2020)
• Vanessa Lan (2019)
• Jacob de Haan (2018)
• Johan de Meij (2017)
• Jacob ter Veldhuis (2016)

---

Back to news overview

Recent news