There is often a defining moment in every young musician’s career. For soprano Elisabeth Hetherington, last month’s announcement from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, may just be one of these moments. As recipient of a BBT Award – their highest accolade – she now joins a very exclusive and special family. The list of previous recipients is truly humbling, including cellists Nicolas Altstaedt and Gautier Capuçon, violist Timothy Ridout, virtuoso recorder player Lucie Horsch, Cuarteto Casals, percussionist Colin Currie, violinist Augustin Hadelich, and trombonist Jörgen van Rijen to name but a few.
How did such an accolade come about? And how did a UK-based foundation discover this talented Netherlands-based singer who grew up in Toronto?
We speak online, and it is fair to say that a degree of excitement filled the air. “I am truly shocked and humbled to receive the award,” she admits. But rather like contestants in the Dutch hit TV series and now global phenomenon, The Traitors, she has known for a while and had to keep the news secret until the traditional official announcement day, March 17th, founder Franco Buitoni’s birthday.
Hetherington explained how the selection process started over a year ago. “I’d heard a little bit about the foundation and who they’d supported in the past. It was really nice of them to contact me, but I was sure I’d never hear from them again.”
A couple of months later, they invited her to a second round, “But even then, I didn’t think anything more of it!”
The Netherlands has been good to Elisabeth Hetherington
Hetherington is well known in the Netherlands, especially as recipient of the prestigious Dutch Music Prize in 2024, the highest award in the land. This is a small country, and with most regional ensembles having a remit to tour extensively, artists can quickly build up a loyal audience base, to the point where one could even joke that Elisabeth Hetherington is everywhere! The current season is no exception, featuring varied collaborations with Phion Orchestra in a programme of North American ballads, followed by a project in May with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century exploring the music of Marianna Martines, landlord to a young, struggling Josef Hadyn, whose compositions captivated both the royal court and the public.
Collaborations
I first encountered Hetherington earlier this year at Amsterdam’s String Quartet Biennale 2026 for the world premiere of Vinthya Perinpanathan’s Her Resistance written especially for her and the ADAM Quartet. Taking Schoenberg’s String Quartet no. 2 as a starting point, this highly engaging collaboration, merging acoustic and electronic sounds whilst blending traditional western harmony with Indian raga, seems to sit as a metaphor of Hetherington’s artistic core. One where we can view her vocal expertise – historical performance focusing on Elizabethan English – either in its purest sense, or through this very modern, even dystopian lens.
For me, the most interesting observation, however, was how the average age of the audience was noticeably younger. If classical music is to stay relevant and attract a younger generation, then artists such as Hetherington whose innovative programming and desire to intertwine the art forms, should be embraced, even celebrated.
The BBT award
Returning to her exciting news, I ask more about how this BBT award will help her career and what type of support she can expect in the coming years?
“Just to be able to talk through things… to tap into their network and wealth of experience as well as their stamp of approval,” she enthuses. “This will make all the difference when approaching new collaborations. I have colleagues who are still in touch with the team many years after their award, using their oversight, expertise on marketing and vast list of contacts to enhance their careers.”
How will she use the generous £30k financial award, and what ideas does she have for future projects?
“First and foremost, I would like to make my own albums. I’ve been lucky to record for other ensembles, but sometimes, in this new world of Spotify, my name is not even on the album. Or the CD is the property of someone else. With this award, I now have the opportunity, and the means, to create something of my own.
“Likewise, for previous commissions and collaborations, it’s not always easy to perform these works in new settings, or with different ensembles. You often need explicit permission which is very difficult to obtain. So I have two composers in mind who will create music which is specific for me. Music which not only crosses boundaries but is flexible and can be performed in multiple settings, for example with an early music ensemble, just a piano, a string quartet, a percussion group, or even three theorbos and harpsichord.
“In a world where subsidy applications always require seed funding, this money will literally give me my own feet to stand on.”
Her love of dance and a desire to give a platform to young singers – one she wishes existed when she first moved to Amsterdam – may also find new life. With two artistic residencies in the pipeline, this may happen sooner than she thinks.
Moving to the Netherlands
How did Hetherington start singing and subsequently end up in the Netherlands in 2016?
“The language and the food!” she jests! Not sure I agree about the food, but we continue…
She remembers singing from an early age, but as a teenager, singing in local high school choirs conducted by her mother took centre stage.
“Singing made me feel like myself and I couldn’t imagine life without it.”
So after undergraduate studies in Toronto, she travelled the world for auditions and of course, the Netherlands was on the list… The rest, as they say, is history.
“As I walked out of Amsterdam Central station, I immediately felt at home. I hadn’t had that feeling anywhere else. I didn’t know anything about Amsterdam Conservatoire’s programme or their teachers, but I’m from Toronto, and all the founding members of the Tafelmusic Baroque Orchestra (Toronto’s historically-informed performance group) were educated in The Hague, so I grew up thinking that this was the place to go for early music. It all worked out. My teacher Xenia Meijer was incredible and the school was perfect. It was a gut feeling. I could see my life here.
Life as a musician in Canada
“Why did I stay in the Netherlands and not return to Canada? That’s not an easy question!” she says. “My sister is a mezzo-soprano, currently working with various Canadian companies all over the country. But she is the exception to the rule. Because Canada is so massive, the culture revolves around four or five large cities which are six or seven hours apart, by plane. So unless you are determined – like my sister – your career can often be confined to one city.”
To add to this, Canadian conservatoires, I learn, have a long history of producing highly-skilled and technically proficient singers, but there isn’t always the work for the “incredibly focused and talented graduates”. As a consequence, young musicians and dancers need to look across the ocean.
“The cultural setup is completely different to the Netherlands. Here, there are so many different ways of creating music outside the established ensembles. In Canada, financial support for emerging talent or for those wishing to create your own music is limited unless you are attached to a large company.
“I planned to stay in Amsterdam for just two years before returning home to sing in a fantastic choir. That was my dream, but the Netherlands continues to give me the luxury of experimentation, so I stayed.”
Without a doubt, this BBT award will help.
Where can you hear Hetherington next?
Since we talked, Hetherington has been in concert in Spain with the Pérgamo Ensemble, and on tour with harpist Emma Huijser in April as part of the Early Music Festival in Utrecht exploring amongst others, the music of Maddalena Casulana – the first woman to publish her own music in 1568.
Catch her on tour in May with young American conductor Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.
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