Zacharias Falkenberg receives first ever Rogier van Otterloo Award

On 7 August, in the former broadcasting station Radio Kootwijk, composition student Zacharias Falkenberg received the first ever Rogier van Otterloo Award from Jules Buckley, Metropole Orkest's chief conductor. Zacharias graduated his Bachelor degree summa cum laude from the ArtEZ School of Music in Arnhem. At the moment, he is following a Master's programme.

This new incentive award from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds is part of the Jong Metropole project which is a collaboration between the Nationaal Jeugd Orkest [National Youth Orchestra], the Nationaal Jeugd Jazz Orkest (NJJO) [National Youth Jazz Orchestra] and the Metropole Orkest. This initiative is funded annually by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and the Keep an Eye Foundation. The award – named after the legendary arranger and conductor Rogier van Otterloo – consists of €5,000 prize money, provided by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, and a customised prize package. Examples of what the prize package contains are a collaboration with the Metropole Orkest, the chance to take lessons from a musical role model and a composition exercise for the 2017 Jong Metropole [Young Metropole] project.

Zacharias S. Falkenberg
Zacharias S. Falkenberg was born in Beijing in 1987 and grew up in Germany and Hong Kong. He wrote works commissioned by Orkest de Ereprijs, Het Accordeon festival and the Matangi Quartet. In 2014, he won the composition competition for the International Brass Festival in Enschede and he was selected for the international Young Composers Meeting in Apeldoorn in 2016. Zacharias started The Chronometer's Orchestra, a 14-person orchestra that plays his compositions exclusively and together they perform across the Netherlands. His music is both graceful and serious and it pushes the boundaries in order to find a perfect balance between the two extremities.