Sunleif Rasmussen A Faroese Composer The Olavsoka Cantata 2009

The Nordic Council Music Prize is awarded annually by NOMUS, the Nordic Music Committee. Every two years it is awarded for a work by a living composer. In the intervening years it is awarded to a performing musician or ensemble.

The Nordic Music Committee (NOMUS)

The Nordic Council has four art committees: *The Nordic Literature and Library Committee (NORDBOK) *The Nordic Music Committee (NOMUS) *The Nordic Centre for the Performing Arts (NordScen) *The Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art (NIFCA) NOMUS consists of two delegates from each of the five Nordic countries (

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, Sweden and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) and observers from the three areas with self-rule (

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

and the Åland Islands ). NOMUS awards grants to promote musical co-operation in the Nordic Region; subsidizes commissioned works, musical performances, seminars, conferences and educational courses; and acts as the secretariat and jury of the Nordic Council Music Prize.

The Nordic Council Music Prize

This prize was launched in 1965 and was originally awarded once every three years. Since 1990, however, the prize has been awarded every year. In alternate years it is awarded to a piece of music by a living Nordic composer and to a small or large musical ensemble of high artistic and technical standards. It is currently worth 350,000 Danish kroner.

Winners

The winners of the Nordic Council Music Prize to date have been: *1965 ''Aniara'' (opera) by Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Sweden *1968 ''Tredje symfonien'' (Third symphony) by

Joonas Kokkonen Joonas Kokkonen (; 13 November 1921 – 2 October 1996) was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera ''The Last Temptations'' has received over 500 performance ...

, Finland *1970 ''Drömmen om Thérèse'' (arenaopera) by Lars Johan Werle, Sweden *1972 ''Eco'' (soprano solo, mixed choir, orchestra) by

Arne Nordheim Arne Nordheim (20 June 1931 – 5 June 2010) was a Norwegian composer. Nordheim received numerous awards for his compositions, and from 1982 lived in the Norwegian government's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. He ...

, Norway *1974 ''

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'' (opera) by

Per Nørgård Per Nørgård (; born 13 July 1932) is a Danish composer and music theorist. Though his style has varied considerably throughout his career, his music has often included repeatedly evolving melodies—such as the infinity series—in the vein o ...

, Denmark *1976 ''Konsert för flöjt och orkester'' by Atli Heimir Sveinsson, Iceland *1978 '' Ryttaren'' (opera) by

Aulis Sallinen Aulis Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". Sallinen ...

, Finland *1980 ''Symfoni/Antifoni'' by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Denmark *1982 ''Utopia'' by Åke Hermanson, Sweden *1984 ''De ur alla minnen fallna'' (Requiem) by Sven-David Sandström, Sweden *1986 ''Poemi for solo violin and string orchestra'' by Hafliði Hallgrímsson, Iceland *1988 '' Kraft'' (symphonic orchestra, electronics) by

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and has been the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence since the beg ...

, Finland *1990 ''Gjennom Prisme'' (cello, organ, orchestra) by Olav Anton Thommessen, Norway *1991

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (, 27 May 1946 – 19 April 2005), also known by his abbreviated nickname NHØP, was a Danish jazz double bassist. Biography Pedersen was born in Osted, near Roskilde, on the Danish island of Zealand, the son of ...

, Denmark Jazz bass player (artist prize) *1992 Symfoni nr 1 by Anders Eliasson, Sweden *1993 Mellersta Österbottens Kammarorkester, Finland (artist prize) *1994 '' Det Sjungande Trädet'' (opera) by

Erik Bergman Erik Valdemar Bergman (24 November 1911, in Nykarleby – 24 April 2006, in Helsinki) was a composer of classical music from Finland. Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works (many of which he later prohibited from bei ...

, Finland *1995

Eric Ericson Eric Gustaf Ericson (26 October 1918 – 16 February 2013) was a Swedish choral conductor and influential choral teacher. Life and career He graduated from the Royal College of Music (''Kungl. Musikhögskolan'') in Stockholm in 1943 and w ...

, Sweden, choir conductor (artist prize) *1996 ''Sterbende Gärten'' concerto for violin and orchestra by Bent Sørensen, Denmark *1997 Björk (Guðmundsdóttir), Iceland, singer and composer (artist prize) *1998 Concert for clarinet and orchestra by

Rolf Wallin Rolf Wallin (born 7 September 1957) is a Norwegian composer, trumpeter and avant-garde performance artist. Biography Wallin was born in Oslo, where he studied with Finn Mortensen and Olav Anton Thommessen. He later studied at the University of ...

, Norway *1999

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , ; born 2 March 1944) is a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist and pianist, especially known for writing 350 symphonies as of August 2022, along with other works in his extensive oeuvre. Segerstam has con ...

, Finland, conductor (artist prize) *2000 ''Lonh'' for soprano and electronics by

Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; born 14 October 1952) is a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho has received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the Ensemble Inte ...

, Finland *2001

Palle Mikkelborg Palle Mikkelborg (born 6 March 1941) is a Danish jazz trumpet player, composer, arranger and record producer. He is self-taught on the trumpet, although he studied conducting at the Royal Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He became a professio ...

, trumpet player, Denmark (artist prize) *2002 Symphony no. 1 – ''Oceanic Days'' by

Sunleif Rasmussen Sunleif Rasmussen (born March 19, 1961 in Sandur in the Faroe Islands) is the foremost Faroese composer of classical music. Biography Rasmussen studied in Norway, then returned to Tórshavn in the Faroes as a music teacher and jazz pianist. Fro ...

, Faroe Islands *2003

Mari Boine Mari Boine (born Mari Brit Randi Boine, 8 November 1956) is a Norwegian Sámi singer. She combined traditional Sámi joik singing with rock. In 2008, she became a professor of musicology at Nesna University College. Biography Mari Boine was b ...

, singer, Norway (artist prize) *2004 ''Gudrun's 4th song'' by Haukur Tómasson, Iceland *2005 Ensemble Cikada, Norway (artist prize) *2006 ''...fetters...'' by Natasha Barrett, Norway *2007 The Eric Ericson Chamber Choir from Stockholm (artist prize) *2008 ''Miki Alone'' by Peter Bruun, Denmark *2009 Kari Kriikku, clarinettist, Finland (artist prize) *2010 ''Opus 42'' by Lasse Thoresen, Norway *2011

Mats Gustafsson Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player. Career Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...

, saxophonist, Sweden (artist prize) *2012 ''Dreymi'' by Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, Iceland *2013

Pekka Kuusisto Pekka Kuusisto (born 7 October 1976 in Espoo) is a Finnish musician. Biography Kuusisto comes from a musical lineage. His grandfather was a composer and organist, his father is a jazz musician who has composed operas, and his mother is a music t ...

, violinist, Finland (artist prize) *2014 ''Black Box Music'' by

Simon Steen-Andersen Simon Steen-Andersen (born 1976) is a Denmark, Danish composer, performer, director and media artist. Biography He studied composition with Karl Aage Rasmussen, Mathias Spahlinger, Gabriel Valverde, and Bent Sørensen (composer), Bent Sørensen ...

, Denmark *2015 Svante Henryson, cellist, Sweden (artist prize) *2016 '' Let me tell you'', Hans Abrahamsen, Denmark *2017 Susanna Mälkki, conductor and cellist, Finland (artist prize) *2018 ''Muohta'', Nils Henrik Asheim, Norway *2019 Gyða Valtýsdóttir, composer and solo musician, Iceland (artist prize) *2020 ''Quarter-tone Piano Concerto'' by Sampo Haapamäki, Finland *2021

Eivør Pálsdóttir Eivor, Eivør or Øyvor is a female given name in the Nordic countries. In Sweden, 4,922 people bear the name. The average age is 78. The name perhaps originated from either the Proto-Norse word ''auja'', which is thought to mean "good luck", o ...

, musician, Faroe Islands *2022 Karin Rehnqvist, composer, Sweden

References

External links

Official website of The Nordic Council Music Prize
* {{Nordic Council prizes Nordic Council prizes European music awards International music organizations Nordic music