Victor Julien-Laferrière

Victor Julien-Laferrière (Paris, 1990) won the first Queen Elisabeth Competition dedicated to the cello, in 2017. He started his study in Paris with Roland Pidoux en would later study with Heinrich Schiff in Vienna and Clemens Hagen in Salzburg. After winning ‘Brussels’, his career would take off. He played at the Sneak Preview of the Biennale in 2017, and played Dvorak’s cello concerto with the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra in 2018. He would later perform as soloist for, among others, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Victor also regularly performs as a conductor and is artistic director of several festivals. Victor Julien-Laferrière plays a Domenico Montagna cello with a bow made by a Dominique Pecatt.

From a young age, Daniël Kramer received lesson from Ton Hartsuiker. He went on to study at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Håkon Austbø, where he received his Master’s degree with distinction. He also received lessons from Rudolf Jansen, Willem Brons, Murray Perahia, and Claude Helffer, among others. He won prizes at the Prinses Christina Concours in 1994,  Concorso Seghizzi in 2008, and the Concours Olivier Messiaen in Paris in 2007.  His performances as a soloist include concerts with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic conducted by Peter Eötvös, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra conducted by Werner Herbers, and the Netherlands Youth Orchestra conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw. He has collaborated with various composers, such as George Benjamin, Louis Andriessen, Toshio Hosokawa, and Sofia Gubaidulina, and has premiered numerous contemporary works.  Daniël Kramer is the principal accompanist of the National Cello Competition and has given many concerts with laureates. He recently collaborated with Eline Hensels, the winner of the competition in 2018, to record a CD which was recently nominated for an Edison.

Piano