Elise L. Stoeger Prize

About Timo Andres

As part of its long history of supporting contemporary composers, CMS awards the biennial Elise L. Stoeger Prize to recognize significant contributions to the field of chamber music. A cash award of $25,000, the prize is the largest of its kind, and is given in recognition of broad achievement in chamber music rather than for a specific work. The prize 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. CMS is thrilled to announce that the 2024 Stoeger Prize has been awarded to Timo Andres.

“We are delighted with our judges’ choice of Timo Andres as winner of the 2025 Stoeger Prize,” said CMS Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han. “His chamber music is highly regarded among both prominent musicians and presenters who have found his works engaging, skillfully composed for the instruments, and attractive for today’s listeners. We offer our congratulations to Timo and hope that this prize not only will reinforce his dedication to chamber music, but also will enable him to travel even further down his high-level artistic path.”

Timo Andres (b. 1985, Palo Alto, CA) is a composer and pianist who grew up in rural Connecticut and now lives in Brooklyn. He is noted for engaging with music on many different levels: as a composer, arranger, writer, teacher, performer, and collaborator. Recent highlights include a sold-out solo recital debut for Carnegie Hall; the world premiere of a piano concerto for Aaron Diehl at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by John Adams; and a 2024 Tony Award nomination for his orchestrations and arrangements for Justin Peck’s 2024 production of Sufjan Stevens’s Illinoise. Upcoming chamber music dates include performances at Stanford Live with Conor Hanick, and at the Phillips Collection with Aaron Diehl. He also reunites with the Calder Quartet to perform his new piano quintet The Great Span in New York City for the People’s Symphony in May 2025.

“I grew up hearing the canonical works of chamber music at Norfolk’s summer festival and Music Mountain," said Timo Andres, "and poring over recordings by the Takács Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio. My favorite pieces by the composers I most admire tend to be their chamber works; these small-to-medium formats can be somehow grand and intimate at the same time, revealing the most specific and sometimes idiosyncratic aspects of their author’s voices. I feel equally challenged and freed to take risks when I write chamber music, and writing it, I’ve learned the most about becoming a better composer and musician. To be recognized in this medium by one of its greatest institutional standard-bearers is a huge and unexpected honor.”

More information about Timo Andres can be found on his website.