16 November 2017
2017 Busoni Composition Prize Awarded to Benjamin Scheuer
Advancement Award to Óscar Escudero
Award Ceremony and Concert on 24 November, 8 pm, Pariser Platz
The winner of the Busoni Composition Prize in 2017 is the German composer Benjamin Scheuer (b. 1987 in Hamburg). The prize is endowed with 6000 euros. The Advancement Award, endowed with 2500 euros is being given to the Spanish composer Óscar Escudero (b. 1992 in Alcázar de San Juan, Spain). Both composers will be present at the evening event.
Aribert Reimann, composer, Akademie member and the benefactor of the Busoni Composition Prize, will give the opening address. At the award ceremony, under the direction of Lennart Dohms, the ensemble mosaik, Sarah Maria Sun (soprano) and Andreas Fischer (bass) will perform compositions by both prizewinners together with works by Ferruccio Busoni, the composer who gave the prize it’s name. The laudatory speeches will be held by Akademie members Enno Poppe and Rebecca Saunders.
Benjamin Scheuer studied in Hamburg and Karlsruhe, and most recently with Wolfgang Rihm. His music is performed by well-known ensembles around the world.
Among other performances, his work Zeitraum (2012) for 600 musicians resonated through the football stadium in Hanover. A founding member of “Musiker ohne Grenzen” (MoG ‒ i.e. Musicians without Borders), he frequently travels to Ecuador, to teach children and young adults who are disadvantaged. Electronic sounds in his music are produced with simple, low-cost means and everyday objects. He focuses on human individuality and fallibility, rather than specifically on technique.
Óscar Escudero studied composition and oboe in Saragossa (Spain). Later, he studied with Simon Steen-Andersen and Niels Rønsholdt in Aarhus (Denmark). Composers such as Michael Beil, Stefan Prins and Carola Bauckholt have influenced his oeuvre, for example in the hybrid world of Y Generation with analogue concepts of bodies, time and stage.
Programme:
Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924)
Berceuse BV 252 for piano (1909)
Berceuse élégiaque BV 252a for ensemble (1909/21, arrangement by Erwin Stein)
Benjamin Scheuer (b. 1987)
Impulsive Lieder (selection) for bass, flute, saxophone and accordion (2015–16)
Jammerorgel for ensemble and electronic music (2017, premiere)
Óscar Escudero (b. 1992)
custom#1 new version for soprano, ensemble and video (2017, premiere)
ensemble mosaik
Sarah Maria Sun, soprano
Andreas Fischer, bass
Lennart Dohms, conductor
Special Event Information
Busoni Composition Prize, 2017 to Benjamin Scheuer (prizewinner)
and Óscar Escudero (Advancement Award)
Award ceremony and concert
Friday, 24 November 2017, 8 pm, free admission
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
See the press release from 6 February 2017