Kruithof Benjamin

Biography

Benjamin Kruithof (1999) was born in Luxembourg into a family of musicians.

At the age of 5 he started playing cello at the "Conservatoire du Nord" with Raju Vidali. In recent years Benjamin studied with Professors such as Mirel Iancovici (Conservatorium Maastricht), Katharina Deserno (Hfmt Köln) and Maria Kliegel (Hfmt Köln). Since 2017 Benjamin is a student of Prof. Jens-Peter Maintz at the University of the Arts in Berlin.

In November 2020 Benjamin won the first prize, the audience award and the Prize for the best interpretation of the assignment composition at the “Cello Biennale Competition” in Amsterdam. He is also a prize winner of the Pablo Casals Award in Spain (special award), Gabrielli competition in Berlin (second prize), the Anne and Françoise Groben Grand Prix in Luxembourg (first prize and audience award), the Flame Competition in Paris (first prize and special prize),the Leopold Bellan International Competition in Paris (first prize and audience award) and the International Knopf Competition in Düsseldorf (special prize).

Benjamin is active as a soloist and chamber musician. He performed with orchestras such as "Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra", "Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie" Herford, "Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra" (OPL) and performed in prestigious venues such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Gasteig in Munich, Kings Place in London, Changsha Concert Hall, Renmin University Hall, Guangzhou Opera House, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Salle Cortot in Paris.

During his career Benjamin has played with artists such as Conrad van Alphen, Adrian Adlam, Vadym Kholodenko, Alena Baeva, Semion Gavrikov, Pascal Schumacher, Thomas Hell, Florian Krumpöck, Naoko Sonoda and Vahan Mardirossian.

In February 2020 he recorded his first CD with the orchestra “Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Herford” for the label Ars Production

Benjamin is currently playing a precious 18th-century instrument made by the italian violin maker G.B. Guadagnini, which is on loan from the Berlin University of the Arts