Prizewinners Announced at the Mixed-Media Goodmesh Concours

The Dutch competition challenges young musicians to work with practitioners from other art-forms

The Goodmesh Concours is a multidisciplinary competition for young artists based in the Netherlands. Founded in 2020, its aim is to challenge young musicians to collaborate with practitioners of non-musical art-forms — such as visual art, dance, literature, graphic art, or architecture.

The last two years have both had themes relating to the pandemic, and in 2022, the Concours elected to frame the competition with a theme that avoided directly political, economic, or social topics. Therefore, the loose theme of "FISH" was chosen, with competitors given full scope to interpret that theme in any way they wished.

From hundreds of applicants, five finalists were selected (from Australia, Sweden, Germany, Hungary and France). They all performed live at the finals, held in The Hague on December 1, 2022.

First Prize went to the Hungarian ensemble Trio Silhouette, with the components of their performance including cello & piano, contemporary dance, and visual art. They received a cash prize of €5,000, as well as management from Goodmesh that includes performance opportunities, mentoring, and professional recording sessions.

Second Prize of €3,000 plus management went to Germany's Ensemble Emergenz, whose performance included recorders that were partially submerged in a fish tank and video recordings of a dancer submerged in a pool.

A further Audience Award of €1,000 plus management was given to Swedish cellists Johannes and Simon Rydén, who collaborated with a dancer while performing Baroque works for solo cello.

"With excellent performances of works by Kurtág and Janáček by cellist Mátyás Virág and pianist Róza Radnóti, the lighting, visuals and dancing came to life in a mesmerizing way," said the jury of Trio Silhouette's winning performance.

"The tension during the performance was equal to that of literally catching a fish. When you get a bite you get goosebumps and you want to keep the catch with you."