Credit: © Sebastien Grebille
The young Luxembourg-born cellist and "Rising Star" Benjamin Kruithof, accompanied by Sardinian pianist Marco Sanna, performed in the Salle Musique de Chambre at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg-Kirchberg on Tuesday 1 October 2024.
The European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) Rising Stars programme identifies and supports exceptional emerging performers, hosting around 110 concerts and 70 special projects annually across ECHO halls. Its mission is to inject fresh energy into the global stage, engage diverse audiences and drive social progress. Nominations are initiated by the artistic teams of the concert halls, who scout artists already established in their national careers and poised to benefit from increased exposure across Europe. The selection process is coordinated by the ECHO office and is the result of collective discussions during the annual meeting of the artistic teams.
Benjamin Kruithof was nominated as a Rising Star by Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam together with the Philharmonie Luxembourg.
Chronicle.lu had the opportunity to attend the performance on Tuesday evening. The programme was as follows:
Beethoven: Sonata for piano and cello N° 5 op.102,2
Boulanger: Three Pieces for cello and piano
Sally Beamish: Reverie for cello and piano. "Reverie" was commissioned by the Philharmonie Luxembourg and Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam in the framework of ECHO Rising stars. It was written for Benjamin Kruithof following his Rising Star win, and is inspired by his description of Luxembourg.
Following the interval, the audience were treated to Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata in G minor op. 19.
A well-deserved sustained applause led to a welcome encore and the recital of Rachmaninoff's Vocalise.
Benjamin Kruithof has won several prizes in Luxembourg and abroad; he was the winner of the 2022 Georges Enescu competition in Bucharest (Romania). Before that, in 2020, he won the first prize, the audience award and the prize for the best interpretation of the assignment composition at the Cello Biennale Competition in Amsterdam. Moreover, he is a prize winner of the Anne and Françoise Groben Grand Prix in Luxembourg (first prize and audience award), to name but a few.
As a soloist, Benjamin has performed with orchestras such as the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra (OCL), the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Herford, as well as the Phion Orchestra, and played in prestigious venues in Amsterdam, Munich, London, Paris and Bucharest, among others.
Benjamin Kruithof was born in Luxembourg into a family of musicians and started playing the cello at the age of five at the Conservatoire du Nord with Raju Vidali.
Sardinian pianist Marco Sanna, who accompanied Benjamin on the piano, is particularly active as a chamber music pianist, playing in many different types of ensembles. He has collaborated with artists such as Mayumi Kanagawa, Natalia Lomeiko, Yuri Zhislin and Andy Miles.
