"In his position as artistic director and conductor," read the citation, "Jos van Veldhoven has made The Netherlands Bach Society into one of the Netherlands' most eminent and beloved ensembles of early music. Also as a conductor and leader of other ensembles (including the Utrecht Baroque Consort and Cappella Figuralis), as a teacher at the music academies in Amsterdam and The Hague, and as a jury member, workshop leader, musicological researcher and author, Van Veldhoven has revealed himself a true advocate of early music and an innovator in performance practice."
He was presented with the award on April 16 in the Bovenkerk Cathedral in the city of Kampen. The occasion was van Veldhoven's performance with the Netherlands Bach Society of Bach's Mass in B minor, just before departing for a sold-out five-city tour of the United States with the work. A recording of the Mass by the same forces on the Channel Classics label has just been released in North America as well.