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The Elise L. Stoeger Prize
Jörg Widmann is the 2008-2009 recipient of the
Elise L. Stoeger prize!
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s 2008-2009 Elise L. Stoeger Prize has been awarded to German composer Jörg Widmann. The Stoeger Prize is a $25,000 cash award given every two years in recognition of significant contributions to the field of chamber music.
In this video, Mr. Widmann talks about receiving the award.
CMS Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han commented on the announcement:
“We could not be more delighted that the Stoeger selection panel has awarded the 2008-2009 prize to Jörg Widmann. He is skilled yet experimental; prolific yet consistently brilliant; traditional yet provocative, and appealing and challenging, all rolled into one. His mastery of instrumental technique has gained him the respect of performers everywhere, and his music has reached a truly global audience in the hands of distinguished orchestras, soloists, and chamber ensembles. We congratulate Jörg and welcome him to the distinguished family of Stoeger Prize winners.”
Born in Munich in 1973, Jörg Widmann is active both as a composer and clarinetist. He studied the clarinet at the Academy of Music in Munich with Gerd Starke, and later with Charles Neidich at The Juilliard School in New York (1994-1995). He began composition lessons with Kay Westermann at the age of eleven and subsequently continued his studies with Wilfried Hiller and Hans Werner Henze (1994-1996) and later Heiner Goebbels and Wolfgang Rihm in Karlsruhe (1997-1999). In 2001, Widmann was appointed professor for clarinet at the Freiburg University of Music, where he is now also a professor of composition. He is currently the Cleveland Orchestra’s Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow. During a two-year residency which began in the fall of 2009, Widmann will compose a new work for the orchestra.
Listen to musical excerpts of Widmann’s chamber music compositions:
Widmann – Funf Bruchstucke I
Widmann – Jagdquartett
Widmann – Fieberphantasie (Fever Fantasy)
Widmann – Fantasia for Solo Clarinet
Special thanks to WERGO for the following musical exerpts. Fieberfantasie: Rüdiger Lotter, Kelvin Hawthorne, Silke Avenhaus, Muriel Cantoreggi, Christoph Richter and Jörg Widmann; Fünf Bruchstücke: Silke Avenhaus, Jörg Widmann; Fantasia for Solo Clarinet; Jörg Widmann
The Stoeger Prize for composers of chamber music was established by a generous gift from Milan Stoeger as a memorial to his wife, Elise, and in gratitude for the music that had been one of the principal joys of their lives. The Prize is awarded in recognition of achievement in the field of chamber music composition rather than for a specific work.
Previous winners of the Elise L. Stoeger Prize:
1987—Gunther Schuller
1990—Oliver Knussen
1992—Lee Hyla and Olly Wilson
1993—Aaron Jay Kernis and Nicholas Maw
1994—Oleg Felzer and Richard Wilson
1995—David Liptak and Steven Mackey
1996—Martin Bresnick and Osvaldo Golijov
1997—Stephen Hartke and Judith Weir
1998—Thomas Ades and Yehudi Wyner
1999—James Primosch and Scott Wheeler
2000—Michael Daugherty and Kaija Saariaho
2002—Chen Yi
2004—David Rakowski
2006-2007—Pierre Jalbert
From the guidelines for the award, the intentions of the donor indicate that the Prize will help sustain a composer for creative work that he/she might not otherwise be able to accomplish without such economic help.
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