Vriendenkrans Competition 2010
The Scholtes-Janssens Piano Duo - with RCMA student Gwylim Janssens - has been chosen as winners of the Vriendenkrans Competition of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam 2010 and Radio4 Talent of the Year 2010.
The finals, held on May 9th 2010 in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, were the ending of a development traject with a big concert tour and the competition, and were live broadcasted on the Dutch national classical radio, Radio4. It was also the first time that the Radio4 Talent of the Year award was presented.
According to the jury, the duo made the largest development of all three finalists since the preliminary rounds 1.5 year ago. Jury chairman Ronald Kieft praised the “magnifiscent ensemble teamwork, the interaction and pleasure during playing”.
By winning the competition, Lestari en Gwylim won the Vriendenkrans sculpture and some prize money, and will be honored with a name tag in the Honor Gallery of Vriendenkrans Winners in the circular hall around the Concertgebouw’s Small Hall.
Biography Scholtes & Janssens
"Like synchronized swimmers, the two pianists breath, dive and reach the water in exactly the same moment" - BN de Stem, January 2009.
Lestari Scholtes (1984) and Gwylim Janssens (1985) have been a piano duo since 2003. Currently they are recognized as one of the most promising piano duos of their generation, and leading piano duo from the Netherlands.
Their 2009 Carnegie Hall debut, as part of the IBLA Grand Prize winners USA tour, was praised as ‘it could well have been 25 or 30 fingers, so big and well integrated was the sound. Terrific duo in top form'. The duo is well known for their brilliant sound and marvelous technical skills, presenting very intense and energetic performances. This has lead them to performances throughout The Netherlands, Germany, France, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Israel and the USA. They regularly play in prestigious venues like the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Their performances have been broadcast by radio and television in multiple countries. Furthermore they performed several times with the Orchestra of Brabant.
The Scholtes-Janssens Piano Duo has won many prizes among which the Ravel Award at the IBLA Grand Prize International Music Competition 2008 in Sicily, Italy and the Special Prize of the Music Academy Bialystok at the Fourth International Piano Duo Competition 2008 in Poland, the Sara Lahat Duo Prize for the most outstanding duo of the Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes 2007 in Israel, and a first prize at the Princess Christina Competition 2003 and 2004.
