Cecilia Arditto and Trevor Grahl receive Willem Pijper Award

The presentation of the Willem Pijper Award is central during Festival Dag in de Branding from May 31 to June 2. Composers Cecilia Arditto and Trevor Grahl will receive the composition award from the Municipality of The Hague on June 1 in Amare by councilor Saskia Bruines.

About the award winners
Two laureates, that is exceptional. The jury found the harvest so rich that this time it decided to award two very different works. There is also a similarity: both Arditto and Grahl write for a traditional medium (orchestra and organ, respectively), but use it in a unique and fresh way.

Cecilia Arditto Delsoglio receives the prize for her orchestral work Tissue (2019), with which she ‘hypnotizes’ the listener, according to the jury. Following the award ceremony, Tissue will be performed in Amare by the symphony orchestra of the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

Trevor Grahl is awarded for his work Music for Malmö (2019) for solo organ and electronics. Grahl has a deep familiarity with the organ and uses it as ‘a source of exceptionally rich colors, nuances and unheard of playing methods‘, according to the jury. Because Grahl’s work requires a specific type of midi-controlled organ, of which there are only a few in Europe, it cannot be performed that afternoon. You will, however, hear a previously recorded fragment of the work during the program. On Sunday afternoon, June 2, we will present an additional concert in the Orgelpark in Amsterdam, where Grahl will play Of Ancient Days, on which he based Music for Malmö.

About the award
The Willem Pijper Award is one of the composition awards of the municipality of The Hague that is curated by the Johan Wagenaar Foundation (organizer of Festival Dag in de Branding). Previous winners include Hugo Morales Murguía and Yannis Kyriakides.

Come to the festive award ceremony and the concert of the symphony orchestra of the Conservatory of Amsterdam in Amare on June 1 at 2:30 pm. Info & tickets