Benjamin Kruithof
Cello
Luxembourgish cellist Benjamin Kruithof is emerging as one of the most promising talents of his generation. He was awarded the first prize at the George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest in 2022, performing Dvořák Cello Concerto in the final round which was praised as being “noble, singing, beautiful” (Bachtrack).
For the 2024/25 season, Benjamin Kruithof was one of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) Rising Star artists, having been nominated by the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Philharmonie du Luxembourg. The ECHO Rising Star program showcased Benjamin Kruithof performing on some of Europe’s most renowned stages, with recitals in Cologne, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Vienna, Budapest, Hamburg, Stockholm, Barcelona, Lisbon, Brussels, London, etc. The acclaimed British composer Sally Beamish specially composed a new work dedicated to him entitled “Reverie” for the ECHO Rising Star tour. Recent concerto appearances included Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and Schumann Concerto with the Heidelberger Symphoniker.
In 2023 Benjamin Kruithof was awarded the Audience Prize from the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; a prestigious prize for emerging soloists. Previous winners included Veronika Eberle, Julia Fischer, Nils Mönkemeyer and Daniel Müller-Schott. That same year, he was personally invited by Janine Jansen to perform with her at the Kamermuziek Festival Utrecht.
An active chamber musician, Benjamin Kruithof participated in various chamber music academies such the Seiji Ozawa Academy (2021, 2022). In the summer of 2023, he played at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Bebersee Festival, Ryedale Festival, Krzyzowa Music and Enescu Festival. In 2020 he recorded his first CD “Russian Mood” with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Herford for the record label Ars Production.
Benjamin Kruithof was born in Luxembourg in 1999 into a family of musicians and started playing the cello at the age of 5. He studied with Professors Mirel Iancovici at Conservatorium Maastricht and Maria Kliegel at Hfmt Köln. Since 2017 Benjamin Kruithof has been a student of Prof. Jens-Peter Maintz at the University of the Arts in Berlin. In Autumn 2024 he began his postgraduate studies at the Kronberg Academy and is currently based in Berlin.
