Discover young talent

The International Van Wassenaer Competition (IVWC) is the oldest competition for early music ensembles in the Netherlands. Since 2014 the three-day event has taken place during the Utrecht Early Music Festival.

IVWC (Marieke Wijntjes)

International Van Wassenaer Competition 2024: baroque edition

After a pre-selection the ensembles are assessed by an international professional jury during the semi-final, which is open to the public. The ensembles who drop out in this round are offered a coaching session with one of the jury members. In the final, a maximum of four ensembles compete for various cash prizes and a paid concert tour. In addition, all finalists receive a masterclass voucher which they can exchange for coaching by a musician of their choice. In this way they get the chance to learn from their musical examples.

Ivwc

Starting in 2019, the IVWC will no longer be held every two years but annually, with a varied focus on early (Middle Ages and Renaissance), middle (Baroque / basso continuo) and late (Classical and Romantic) repertoire, performed on historical instruments.

The International Van Wassenaer Competition 2024 will take place from Wednesday 28 August until Friday 30 August, with a focus on repertoire from the baroque.

The hall lights are dimmed, murmurs become whispers, drops of sweat tickle the palms: the exciting competition rounds of the International Van Wassenaer Competition are always a highlight of the festival programme.

We are more than happy to let new voices on the early music stage have their say in this competition, in which young ensembles are encouraged to win over both jury and audience with technique and interesting programme choices, characterful interpretations and a touch of flair.

Discover the stars of tomorrow and cheer on your favourites: the winners get to pack their bags for a tour in the Festival Oude Muziek Tournees.

The jury for the International Van Wassenaer Competition 2024: baroque edition is as follows:
Krijn Koetsveld (chair)
Simon-Pierre Bestion
Johanna Rose
Raquel Andueza
Benny Aghassi

You can reserve tickets for the IVWC from Wednesday 14 August.

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Review 2023: early edition

Winners

  • Jury awards:
    • 1st place: Memor
    • 2nd place: Contre le Temps
    • 3rd place: ensemble feuervogel
  • Audience award: Contre le Temps
  • OOM-prize (a concert tour in the season of the Utrecht Early Music Festival or a concert during the Utrecht Early Music Festival): Contre le Temps


All four finalists received a masterclass voucher with a value of € 500.

Jury 2023
Krijn Koetsveld (chair) artistic leader of Le Nuove Musiche
Elam Rotem artistic leader of Profeti della Quinta
Maria Jonas artistic leader of Ars Choralis Coeln
Pedro Teixeira artistic leader of Officium Ensemble
Katharina Bäuml artistic leader of Capella de la torre
Michele Pasotti artistic leader of la fonte musica

The International Van Wassenaer Competition was made possible by Fonds Jacoba van Wassenaer, Stichting De Weille Ogier, Van den Berch van Heemstede Stichting, Stichting Thurkowfonds and Fentener van Vlissingenfonds.