“The conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen has been awarded the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Musical Composition, an award established in 2004 by the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University,” writes Allan Kozinn in Monday’s (3/10) New York Times. “The award includes a $100,000 cash prize, a performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and a residency of four nonconsecutive weeks over the next two years at the school, in Evanston, Ill. ‘It is with great pride and appreciation that I accept the Nemmers Prize this year,’ Mr. Salonen said in a statement. ‘The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has long been a musical home away from home for me, and I look forward to developing a relationship with the Northwestern students and faculty. The possibilities at educational institutions are always intriguing, but the Bienen School’s special amalgam of creativity and merit makes this opportunity even more exciting.’ Previous winners of the prize, which is given every two years and is awarded for outstanding achievement in a body of work, rather than for a specific piece, include John Adams, Oliver Knussen, Kaija Saariaho, John Luther Adams and Aaron Jay Kernis.”
Posted March 11, 2014
