The Estonian Composers’ Union announced nominees for the new music award recognizing active Estonian composers and spotlights a new composition deserving international acclaim. This year, 42 works from 33 composers were nominated for the prize by individuals, collectives and organizations for the award. The jury selected 10 nominees:
Arash Yazdani – “In My Boundless Turmoil”
Evelin Seppar – Clarinet concerto “Kraft”
Lauri Jõeleht – “Rosa Mystica”
Liina Sumera – “La Fontana Malata”
Liisa Hirsch – “Earth Veins”
Madli Marje Gildemann – “Nocturnal Migrants”
Malle Maltis – “Waters Flow Their Ways”
Meelis Vind – “Solar Wind”
Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes – “Ainult õhk”
Tõnu Kõrvits – “Laulud valu allikalt”
Members of the Jury 2024 include Märt-Matis Lill (Estonian Composers’ Union and the Chair of the Jury), Johanna Mängel (Klassikaraadio), Lodewijk van der Ree (conductor), Talvi Hunt (pianist) and composer Ülo Krigul, last year’s laureate.
Member of the Jury, pianist Talvi Hunt comments: “The year 2023 brought very versatile and high-level compositions. Compared to the previous year, ensemble and chamber works were strongly predominant among the works submitted to the competition. An intriguing aspect was the unique instrumentations and the distinctive collectives that were surprisingly numerous this year and made the choice somewhat more difficult. The increase in weighty electronic and electroacoustic works in Estonian music is also a positive trend. It’s gratifying to see a blend of established composers as well as a significant representation from the younger generation, including surprise entries making their debut on this year’s list.
The nominees will be introduced in the Klassikaraadio Nyyd-muusika program.
The “LHV New Music Award Au-tasu 2024” winner will be revealed on April 28th at 7 p.m. at the Vanemuine Concert Hall.
The partnership between the Estonian Composers’ Union and LHV commenced in 2016.
LHV is also sponsoring the “Young Composer 2024” competition, with the final concert scheduled for April 27th at 4 p.m. in the Tubin Hall of the Heino Eller Music School.
Estonian Music Days, the largest premier festival in Estonia will take place entirely in Tartu, the European Capital of Culture, from April 26 to May 5. In 2024, the festival will broaden its scope to include new compositions from Latvia and Lithuania, under the expanded title Baltic & Estonian Music Days, with the theme Umwelt, showcasing Baltic contemporary music. The festival program can be found here: https://balticmusicdays.eu/.