Tosca Opdam

Praised for her “enchanting musical personality” (De Volkskrant), violinist Tosca Opdam has captivated audiences and critics alike with her musicality and poise. Born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Tosca won the first prize in the Oskar Back Violin Competition for Hollands’ promising violinists, performing Vieuxtemps’ Fifth Concerto at the Concertgebouw. The jury marked her “beautifully sustained long lines” and “soloist qualities”.

Recent engagements include a performance at the “Bevrijdingsconcert aan de Amstel” (Liberation Day concert at the Amstel river) — an outdoor concert on the Amsterdam canals — live broadcasted on national television. Other notable Amsterdam performances were a sold-out debut recital at the Recital Hall of the Concertgebouw, as well as a performance at the Main Hall of the Concertgebouw, where Tosca performed for international press in honor of the re-opening of the Rijskmuseum in Amsterdam.

Her solo orchestral debut was at age 11 with the Camerata 2/3 String Orchestra. Since then she has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as Holland Symfonia, the NJO (Nederlands Jeugd Orkest), and the Humboldt Orchestra, under the baton of Constantin Alex, Jurjen Hempel, Matthew Rowe, Clark Rundell and others. Concerts have taken her all over Europe and North America to prominent concert stages and venues such as the Concertgebouw, (Amsterdam), The Music Theater (Amsterdam), Lincoln Center (New York), Muziekcentrum Frits Philips (Eindhoven), National Arts Center (Ottawa), and The Doelen (Rotterdam).

A passionate chamber musician and recitalist, Tosca appeared at numerous music festivals like the Grachtenfestival (Amsterdam), the Delft Chamber Music Festival, (Delft), Storioni Festival, (Eindhoven), the R&R series (New York) and the Young Artists Program, (Ottawa). She played and worked closely with renowned musicians such as Inon Barnatan, Liza Ferschtman, Sol Gabetta and Maxim Rysanov.

Tosca crafts extraordinary programs, often reflecting her interests in establishing connections between different art forms. Examples are a lecture concert at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, based on- and inspired by the Van Gogh’s art and life, as well as a lecture performance at the symposium of the “Veerstichting” (Leiden). Other multi-disciplinary projects include performances at Lincoln Center in a collaboration with the New York City Ballet and The New York Choreographic Institute, as well as a special guest appearance at the Amsterdam Music Theater with the Dutch National Ballet during their anniversary Gala program “Presents 1/2” in 2013. On another occasion, she performed in an innovative presentation of Messiaen’s ‘Quartet for the End of Time’ combining actors, musicians and visual texts, at the “Ades” performing space (New York). In August 2014, she hosted a two-hour long radio program called “Een Goede Morgen met…”, which was live broadcasted on national radio.

Tosca Opdam is a recent Masters of Music graduate from the Juilliard School of Music in New York where she studied with Catherine Cho and Sylvia Rosenberg. At the Manhattan School of Music, from which she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2012, she studied with Patinka Kopec. Before coming to New York, Ms. Opdam completed the Young Talent class of the Conservatory of Amsterdam under Joyce Tan and Peter Brunt. Tosca has performed in master classes with eminent musicians such as Pamela Frank, Ilya Grubert, Theo Olof, Georgy Pauk, Candida Thompson, Frank Peter Zimmermann and Pinchas Zukerman.

Tosca plays a Matteo Goffriller violin, which is generously loaned to her privately.