In Young Talent at the Old Wester, several laureates of the Princess Christina Competition play in Amsterdam's iconic Westerkerk. Together with Evan Bogerd, the organist of the Westerkerk, a young talent plays a varied program of solo pieces and pieces played together with organ.
Today the honor falls to the 19-year-old oboist and singer Maria Pedano. She won awards at the Princess Chrisina Competition in 2016 and 2019. During the Grachtenfestival she won the Bunschoten Young Talent Prize. She also won first place at the international competition "Gnessin Competition for Young Musicians" in Moscow and the "Concours de la Chanson Française" and was in the final of the Concertgebouw Competition.
Maria is currently studying oboe and classical singing at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Ernest Rombout, Aisling Casey and Sasha Hunnego respectively.