The Kersjes Fonds has awarded this year's conducting grant to Sebastiaan van Yperen. He will receive a conducting grant of €15,000. The award ceremony will take place on the evening of Wednesday, December 4, at De Duif in Amsterdam. The Kersjes Fonds is one of the largest private music promotion funds in the Netherlands.
The fund states: "Sebastiaan is an inspiring young Dutch conductor; he is highly musical, able to quickly understand and convey a score, has clear technique, and possesses unifying qualities. This allows him to conduct complex opera productions and contemporary music at a young age."
Sebastiaan van Yperen (born 1995) currently works as 2nd Kapellmeister at the Staatstheater Augsburg. He studied orchestral conducting at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Ed Spanjaard, Antony Hermus, and Karel Deseure, and at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Sian Edwards. Additionally, he studied composition at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Joël Bons, Richard Ayres, Willem Jeths, Wim Hendrickx, and Jorrit Tamminga. Prior to his appointment in Augsburg, Van Yperen worked as an assistant conductor, composer, and répétiteur with, among others, the Dutch National Touring Opera, the Dutch National Opera, Asko|Schönberg, The Hague Philharmonic, and the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Last year, Van Yperen won the top prize at the first Ferenc Fricsay Conducting Competition.