Charlotte Spruit, violin

Born in the Netherlands in 2000, Charlotte Spruit was a winner at the 2023 Young Classical Artists Trust international auditions, and has previously been a prize winner at numerous international competitions. Charlotte won the first prize and audience prize and the Genuin Classics prize at the Leipzig International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, as well as prizes at the Kloster Schöntal International Violin Competition, Concours International Arthur Grumiaux, Oskar Back Violin Competition and Anton Kersjes Violin Prize in 2020. She was also selected as one of Classic FM’s ‘Rising Stars’ of 2024. 

Charlotte is a keen chamber musician and soloist, having performed at prominent locations such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. She has performed chamber works with acclaimed musicians including Janine Jansen, Rachel Podger, Gidon Kremer, Tabea Zimmermann, Lawrence Power, and Christian Tetzlaff. Charlotte plays frequently at chamber music festivals across Europe, including the Chamber Music Connects the World festival at the Kronberg Academy and the Mendelssohn on Mull Festival where she performed with the Doric String Quartet. 

As a concerto soloist, Charlotte has played with numerous orchestras, including the Residentie Orkest The Hague, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pauliner Barockensemble, and Ensemble Esperanza. 

During the 2024/25 season Charlotte performs extensively throughout the UK including in concerts at Wigmore Hall and Brighton Dome,  as well as in concerto with the Surrey Mozart Players playing the Brahms Violin Concerto. Highlights in mainland Europe include appearances at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Internationales Musikfestival Heidelberger Fruhling, following on from recent European performance highlights at the Rheingold Festival Wageningen, AVROTROS Vrijdagconcert in TivoliVredenburg Utrecht and Bachfest Münster. 

Charlotte also enjoys exploring different ways of bringing music to the audience, for example by bringing together different forms of art. She has collaborated with artist Jérémie Queyras, creating performances combining painting and music. Together they won the first prize at the Goodmesh Concours in 2022.

She began her violin studies aged four with Coosje Wijzenbeek, culminating with her studying at the Guildhall School of Music in London with David Takeno, followed by the Royal Academy of Music with Ying Xue, where Charlotte recently completed her Master’s degree under Rachel Podger and Pavlo Beznosiuk.

Charlotte plays an 18th-century anonymous Italian violin, kindly on loan from the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.

Charlotte is also extremely grateful to The Stanley Picker Trust for their support during her time with YCAT.