Kate Moore and Femi Dawkins win Gieskes-Strijbis Podium Prijs

Composer Kate Moore and multidisciplinary artist Femi Dawkins have won the Gieskes-Strijbis Podiumprijs 2022. The two winners received a sum of 60,000 euros each on Monday evening 19 September in Amsterdam.

This will enable them to devote two years entirely to the development of their artistry.The Gieskes-Strijbis Podiumprijs was established in 2017 by the fund of the same name and is intended for makers who contribute to the quality and diversity of performing arts in the Netherlands. This can include theatre, music, composition, dance and musical theatre.

Music with ceramic objects
The Australian-Dutch composer Kate Moore (b 1979) came to the Netherlands in 2002 to work with Louis Andriessen. She is artistic director of the Herz ensemble, which performs her own compositions and works by other, mainly female composers. The ensemble also uses non-traditional instruments such as metal objects and ceramic objects. The jury: “Kate Moore is steadily building a unique oeuvre in which she experiments with timbre and instrumentation without alienating her audience. She is idiosyncratic and unique in her quest to connect nature and culture. Setting up her own ensemble at a time when precisely ensembles are being cut back demonstrates courage, and in her artistic leadership she makes extraordinary choices.”

The prize has been awarded annually since 2017 to two makers who contribute to the quality and diversity of the performing arts in the Netherlands. With prize money of 60,000 euros per winner, it is the largest performing arts prize in the Netherlands. Three other artists were nominated for the prize: actress and theatre maker Carole van Ditzhuyzen, theatre maker and dramatist Francesca Lazzeri and dance artist Connor Schumacher.