Classical Music students win prizes at Dutch Jazz Crossover Competition
- Music
- ArtEZ Prizewinner
We're proud to announce that Classical Music students Ischa Kooistra and Reinoud de Vey Mesdagh, have won prizes at the Dutch Jazz Crossover Competition at BIMhuis Amsterdam with their quintet RAGAZZI. RAGAZZI won both the Audience Choice award and the Best Band award.
RAGAZZI's members are Ischa Kooistra (Cello), Reinout de Vey Mestdagh (Cello), Joshua Herwig (Cello), Wouter Torringa (Violin) and Thijmen Veelenturf (Violin). The string ensemble blew away the established order of the Dutch avant-garde jazz scene at the Dutch Jazz Competition. Earlier this year, RAGAZZI also won prizes, at the Jonge Makers Concours.
Two prizes
Because of RAGAZZI's amazing performance at the Dutch Jazz & Crossover Competition, the five band members won two prizes: the Audience Choice award and the award for Best Band. This includes (also thanks to main sponsor Sena) a cash prize of 8000 euros and a tour of relevant festivals. The jury characterised the level of the 2022 edition as very high:
"With the extraordinary line-up of cellos and violins, the sublime interplay, the collaboratively conceived compositions and the inventive arrangements, RAGAZZI kept both the audience and the judges on the edge of their seats."
View the performance
Would you like to watch RAGAZZI's performance and the final? Watch the video below! The quintet is on screen from 2 hours and 3 minutes.
RAGAZZI will become Woodcraft
Winning this award comes at a special time for the group. "This was our last performance as RAGAZZI," says cellist Joshua Herwig. "A new chapter is about to begin for us in 2023, under a new name: Woodcraft. That's why we are announcing this a bit earlier than planned: nice to meet you! We are busy working on our debut album, which will come out in the spring."
Dutch Jazz & Crossover Competition
The biennial Dutch Jazz Competition aims to give talented Dutch or Netherlands-based musicians the opportunity to present themselves to a wider audience, the press and the music industry. The Dutch Jazz Competition is made possible by Sena Performers, Sena Muziekproductiefonds, the JCP Foundation, Hendrik Muller Fonds, the Kunstenbond/Ntb and Buma Cultuur.
Academy of Music Zwolle
Engagement, (inter)disciplinary cooperation and the development of individual talent and personality characterize the courses Classical Music, Education in Music and Jazz & Pop of the Academy of Music in Zwolle. Here young professionals are trained, who are versatile and practical.