The finalists of the Dutch Classical Talent Tour & Award have been selected. The musicians who will participate in the coaching and tour programme, are the Ebonit Saxophone Quartet; pianist Casper Vos; mezzosoprano Esther Kuiper and pianist Florent Mourier; and violinist Shin Sihan and pianist Anne Brackman.
The finalists will receive a grant of € 2.500,- to be put towards study, and an intensive coaching programme and they will perform in ten major concert halls throughout the Netherlands. The contest wil be completed with a final contest, after which one of the finalists will be rewarded with the Dutch Classical Talent Award.
The Ebonit Saxophone Quartet was formed in 2011 by Simone Müller, Dineke Nauta, Johannes Pfeuffer and Paulina Kulesza, all students with Arno Bornkamp. Currently, the quartet studies in the master's degree programme for string quartets, offered jointly by the Netherlands String Quartet and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where the members study with Marc Danel, Sven Arne Tepl en Stefan Metz.
Pianist Casper Vos graduated from the master's degree programme at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he studied with Jan Wijn, in 2014.
Esther Kuiper studied jazz as well as classical voice at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, with among others Pierre Mak, Annett Andriesen, Sasja Hunnego, David Bollen and Hein Meens, and is a teacher of voice at the CvA Jazz Department. Florent Mourier studied with David Kuijken at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam; he graduated from the bachelor's degree programme in June 2015.
Violinist Shin Sihan studied at the Sweelinck Academy, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam's national programme for young talents. Currently he continues his studies at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. He has formed a duo with pianist Anne Brackman, who studied piano and flute at the Sweelinck Academy and is now in the third year of the bachelor's degree programme in piano, where she studies with Frank van de Laar.