Henny Vrienten was posthumously honored with the Lennaert Nijgh Prize during the presentation of the Buma Awards in Bussum on Monday. This is the jury prize for best lyricist. The singer and composer from Tilburg, who died at the end of April at the age of 73, will receive the award for his musical legacy. “His oeuvre is now as broad as his lyricist talent was”, according to the jury.
Vrienten is praised for having mastered the art of converting universal themes into text for almost fifty years and to captivate, touch, surprise and make people think, according to the jury. The prize is named after the man who wrote a lot of music for Boudewijn de Groot and Ramses Shaffy, among others.
Henny Vrienten has been the frontman of Doe Maar since 1980. He also made several solo albums, in recent years together with George Kooymans and Boudewijn de Groot under the name Strange Kostgangers. He also wrote music for dozens of films and television programs, including Left Luggage, Abeltje, The Discovery of Heaven, Het Klokhuis and Sesame Street. He also participated in the musicals Petticoat and Ciske de Rat.
The presentation of the Buma Awards, in which composers, writers, lyricists and music publishers are honored, takes place in theater Spant!
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