Johannes Vermeer Prize 2023 for mezzo-soprano Tania Kross

ANPTania Kross at the benefit show Together a Kingdom in 2020

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 12:58

Opera singer Tania Kross has won the 2023 Johannes Vermeer Prize. The jury unanimously awarded the Dutch State Prize for the Arts to Kross.

According to the jury, the mezzo-soprano receives the prize because of her “leading international singing career and the innovative way in which she makes opera widely accessible and appeals to, connects and inspires a diverse audience.”

Over the past 25 years, Kross (47) has played countless starring roles in productions at major opera houses and concert halls at home and abroad. She has previously received music awards, including the Edison Audience Award, and wrote history with the production of the very first opera in Papiamento: Katibu di Shon.

“With her artistic qualities and love for opera music, she knows how to move and inspire time and time again. Through her professionalism and infectious enthusiasm, she opens up an art form that seemed inaccessible to a large and contemporary audience,” said the jury.

The Johannes Vermeer Prize is an important recognition for Dutch art. The award is intended for artists working in the Netherlands, from various disciplines. Last year, writer Arnon Grunberg was the first winner from literary circles. The year before, visual artist Natasja Kensmil won and in 2020 photographer Rineke Dijkstra.

Like what Johannes Vermeer?

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter from the Golden Age. He was born in Delft on October 31, 1632, and died on December 15, 1675.

He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Golden Age, because of his use of color and the way he captures the light. It is estimated that he created about forty or fifty works. Well-known paintings are The Milkmaid, The Lady and Maid and The Girl with the Pearl Earring.

On November 20, Kross will receive the prize at the Felix Meritis in Amsterdam from outgoing State Secretary Uslu for Culture and Media. The prize comes with a sum of 100,000 euros, which the winner must spend on a special project within their own field.

After the award ceremony, an exhibition about Kross’s work will open at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. That exhibition can be seen until mid-March 2024.

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