Dutch National Opera named opera company of the year

The Dutch National Opera was named the Opera Company of the Year 2016 in London on Sunday. On Twitter the company states that it is grateful and honored by the award. "We want to dedicate the prize to the future of our art form, to a deeper commitment to strive fro excellence, to the need to take risks and apply innovations, to the pleasure with which we educate and share our experiences with a new generation of creators and spectators from all walks of life", Dutch National Opera director Pierre Audi said, according to news wire ANP. The Dutch National Opera is the largest opera company in the Netherlands. The company is based in the National Opera & Ballet theater in Amsterdam. It has its own choir of about 60 members and stages about 11 productions a year. The International Opera Awards was established in 2012. It is considered the Oscars of the opera world and is meant to promote the art form, to reward people who work in the opera world and to generate funds to train talent. Opera companies from, among others, Germany, the United States, Poland and Austria were also nominated this year.