Music Prize of the Kunststiftung NRW

The Music Prize of the Kunststiftung NRW honors internationally active, highly qualified composers who, in close collaboration with ensembles from NRW, critically develop self-chosen questions on the production and reception of music. It is awarded every two years in Kolumba. The first prize winner is the composer, drummer and installation artist Manos Tsangaris (*1956). He receives the Music Prize of the Kunststiftung NRW - Mauricio Kagel Music Prize for 2024, which is endowed with 80,000 euros. This includes a grant of 50,000 euros for the performance of a newly created work with an ensemble from NRW. Manos Tsangaris is considered one of the most important international representatives of new music theater. He himself studied with Mauricio Kagel (1976-1983 Cologne University of Music). Since the 1970s, he has been researching the conditions of performance as an essential subject of composition. In its decision, the Artistic Advisory Board of the Music Prize praised the musician as an artistic multiverse: “In Manos Tsangaris' detailed projects, the experiences and perceptions of the individual become the starting point for a sharpened general, social awareness - this is a current, necessary concept for our present, which can also be considered a legacy of Mauricio Kagel.” (The award ceremony took place at an event with 100 invited guests).

Program: Portraitfilm Manos Tsangaris von Barbara Lubich | Greeting: Stefan Kraus, Kolumba / Andrea Firmenich, Kunststiftung NRW | Laudation: Marcel Beyer | Musik: Manos Tsangaris, Mistel Album for flute, violin and cello (2012), READ for two plucked instruments (2017), What I see für drei, Ensemble hand werk, Jae A Shin, violin, Daniel Agi, flute, Niklas Seidl, cello