Japanese girl from The Hague wins top music prize in Amsterdam

A 12-year-old Japanese girl from The Hague has won this year's edition of the Concertgebouw's annual competition for talented young musicians up to the age of 14.

Botan Takada, who was born in the Netherlands and took up the cello at the age of five, comes from a musical family.

She is the eldest daughter of Japanese pianist, Akane Takada who moved here from Yamagata to study piano in Rotterdam and The Hague, and Japanese composer and sound artist Yota Morimoto , who has written music for the Eye Filmmuseum and Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

“I'm so happy. I just called my music teacher right away to tell him!” she said after her win.

Selected from more than 200 entries, Botan's performance of Bach and Saint-Saëns last Saturday in the Concertgebouw 's Kleine Zaal won over the judges.

Jury chairman, Vincent de Korte congratulated all the contestants for the high standard of performance, but said it was Botan he said who really captivated the audience.

“You showed an insane finesse, especially with Bach. You transcended your age and took the audience with you.”

The annual Concertgebouw Competition celebrates its seventeenth anniversary this year. Previous winners include recorder player Lucie Horsch , (2009) and pianist Nikola Meeuwsen (2014) who recently became the first Dutchman to win the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.

Taught by Dutch cellist Matthijs Broersma (who also teaches at the renowned Menuhin School in London) Botan started playing the cello because she was enchanted by the warm, dull sound of the instrument.

“With the cello, I can express all my emotions: happy, angry, sad. And the best part: funny. I can use all of my imagination.”

As part of the Concertgebouw award, Botan will perform in the Grachtenfestival on August 23 featuring works by Vivaldi, Saint-Saëns plus some traditional Japanese music.