Benjamin Kruithof, you were born into a musical family and started playing the cello at the Conservatoire du Nord (Luxembourg) at around the age of five. How did you become interested in the cello?
It’s actually not such a spectacular story. A very good friend of the family, Raju Vidali, played tennis with my father once a week. I thought he was super cool. He plays the cello and is a professor at the Conservatoire. That was a big motivation. Furthermore, it was also very important for my parents, that I learn an instrument. Not with the goal of pursuing it professionally, but simply as part of a general education. And somehow, it has now become a profession.
How quickly can we imagine the transition? At what point did you know that it was starting to become more serious and that you wanted to pursue it professionally?
Well, I’ve always found it very interesting because I went to a regular high school and many of my friends had to decide what they wanted to study and what career path to take, at eighteen, nineteen. And for me, it was always a development. You naturally start at four years old, and as you improve and do more, if you really enjoy it, you grow into it. I think around twelve or thirteen years old, there came a moment when I had to practice more – twenty minutes a day was no longer enough. But then I really stuck with it and never questioned at that age whether I wanted to do it or not, I just kept going. Of course, you sometimes have to ask yourself: Where will I study now? What exactly do I want to do? I never questioned whether I would continue with music but rather how I wanted to continue within the field. It just became a part of me because I’ve been doing it for so long and have really enjoyed it from the beginning.
You mentioned Raju Vidali, an important figure with whom you still have contact after twenty years. How important was he for your development as an artist?
I think the first professor is very important. And above all, not necessarily to shape you into the technically skilled cellist you become, but simply to give that impulse when you’re a child. He has an enormous passion for music and is always very enthusiastic. And I think that’s the most important thing I took with me. I know people who started with a professor who created a very negative environment and worked with a lot of pressure. And you can see that it remains. Therefore, I am very grateful that he opened up the joy of music for me.
Since then, a lot has happened, you’ve been performing many concerts recently and were also one of a handful of Luxembourgish artists selected as a Rising Star 2024 by ECHO, raveling across Europe for eighteen concerts. How was this tour experience for you so far?
It has been truly phenomenal. It’s somehow super beautiful, but my pianist and I also always feel a bit sad after a concert because it’s so unique to be able to perform in these phenomenal halls throughout the season, playing almost the same program. As a duo we grow enormously, and it is simply a great joy to travel and to discover the cities. I am extremely happy that I am allowed to do this and it has been a great experience so far.
Building up a career as an independent musician is a very important topic for many young people nowadays. How easy or difficult is it nowadays in your field as a cellist to build your own career?
It is not so easy, and in a way, that’s how it should be. I think one must simply be authentic and that diligence is very important. But you also have to find your own niche. That is becoming increasingly important, as I’ve noticed. If someone truly believes in their goal and is determined to achieve it, then it is possible to succeed. I never really thought too much about having to achieve something, but simply had an enormous joy in music. And I definitely want to continue that! And of course you have to practice a lot but you also need a bit of luck.
As the ICMA Young Artist of the Year 2025, how important is it to you to see young people in the audience?
For me it is really important that more and more young people come to classical concerts. I try to contribute to this by playing school concerts for example. This is something that is really close to my heart.
If we now look to the future, what are you currently working towards?
A big goal of mine, besides the normal concerts, is to become even more active with schools in the future. I’ve started to combine evening concerts with school performances more frequently, because it simply brings me a lot of joy, and I notice that we can achieve a lot. I believe that many people would enjoy classical music, but a lot of them simply don’t know it yet. It’s also important that I say something about the pieces, about the Instrument because I’ve noticed that some students don’t know what a cello is. I have experienced that a few times already.
And often they are very surprised; they find it enormously cool, how someone can practice so much for something, simply because they think that once you’ve learned the notes, you’re done! But then they are very fascinated that the process actually begins at this point. And therefore, I think it’s also a lot about how I communicate and not just going to going to schools and playing all the Bach suites up and down. So that is a bit of a bigger goal for me and also a bit of my responsibility. Beyond that, of course, my goal is to build my career as successfully as possible in the coming years and to perform as much as I can. In a way, I’m living my dream.
Through this award, the media presence will naturally increase. How important are the media to you as an artist?
Super important! I think visibility is crucial for an artist today, especially when you are building a career. If no one knows you, then it becomes difficult. And I think media always play a big role in that. So you can really see this with major competitions, like the Queen Elisabeth Competition, for example. Many people know the winner simply because of the live broadcasts. Articles, reviews, these are all enormously important things, as they make organizers somehow aware of us. And also that the large audience thinks: ,Oh, I want to hear that person at a concert sometime’. That’s why media presence is enormously important, and an award like the ICMA is so significant for me.
