Joost Willemze (1996) is one of the most prominent Dutch harpists. At the age of sixteen, he won first prize in the national final of the Prinses Christina Concours in The Hague. In 2017, he won the International Harp Competition in Porto and, a year later, the Italian Suoni d'Arpa. In 2023, he performed in the most important concert halls in the Netherlands and won the prestigious Dutch Classical Talent Award, with the jury praising his playing as 'next-level harp'. This summer, he won the 'Grachtenfestival Prize', making him Artist in Residence during the 2024 edition of the Grachtenfestival, the largest classical music festival in the Netherlands. He recently made his solo debut with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Debussy's 'Danses Sacrée et profane' at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. The Dutch newspaper NRC recently called him a rising star for 2024.
Joost has won several prizes and awards at the International Harp Competition in Wales, the Gerswhin Competition in New York, the Concours Godefroid in Tournai, the Reinl Wettbewerb in Munich, the Bertold Hummel Competition in Würzburg, and the Korea International Harp Competition in Seoul.
