“Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and the South African playwright Athol Fugard are among the recipients of the 2014 Praemium Imperiale awards, Japan’s highest honors in the arts,” writes David Ng in Wednesday’s (7/16) Los Angeles Times. “This year’s roster of winners also includes architect Steven Holl, painter Martial Raysse and sculptor Giuseppe Penone. Organizers of the awards said on Wednesday that the medals will be handed out in a ceremony in Tokyo on Oct. 15. Japan’s Prince Hitachi, who is the brother of Emperor Akihito, is scheduled to be a presenter at the ceremony. Each laureate receives an honorarium of 15 million yen ($147,500), as well as a diploma and medal. Pärt is a composer whose contemplative music has been widely performed by ensembles around the world.… Often labeled a mystic by critics and fans, Pärt has often lent his music to movie soundtracks, imparting an air of spirituality and gravitas to select films by Terrence Malick, Gus Van Sant and Paul Thomas Anderson…. Last year’s winners included Plácido Domingo, Francis Ford Coppola, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Antony Gormley and David Chipperfield.”
Posted July 17, 2014
