Anna Knaup is this year’s winner of the Golden Harp. Knaup will receive the prize on 16 May during the presentation of the Buma Awards in theater Spant! in Bussum. Knaup was involved in the early years of the Amsterdam Dance Event, which over the years grew into the world’s largest club festival with more than 300,000 visitors annually.

The Golden Harp is awarded to Knaup because of her “crucial and facilitating role in the development and professionalization of Dutch dance music.” “In 1996 Anna was way ahead of her time. She built ADE with virtually nothing,” says Frank Helmink of Buma Cultuur. “To this day, dance is the Netherlands’ most successful musical export product and Anna undoubtedly plays an important part in this.”

With her own agency, Knaup also represents several leading Dutch DJs such as Afrojack, Kriss Kross Amsterdam and Hardwell. The latter will hand over the Golden Harp to Knaup.

The Buma Awards are the prizes for the most successful composers, lyricists and music publishers behind the hits of the past year. A number of jury prizes are also awarded every year. For example, the Lennaert Nijgh Prize goes to the best lyricist and the Lifetime Achievement Award is intended for a composer who has performed exceptionally and for a long time.