Composer Yannis Kyriakides receives the Johan Wagenaar Award 2020
On the 12th of December composer Yannis Kyriakides receives the Johan Wagenaar Award 2020. The only lifetime achievement award for a composer in the Netherlands, the Johan Wagenaar Award is presented once every four years by the municipality of The Hague. Previous laureates include Martijn Padding (2016), Guus Janssen (2012) and Louis Andriessen (2008). On this festive day, compositions by Kyriakides are played in several locations across the city by Maze, Silbersee and others.
In its motivation, the jury of the Johan Wagenaar Award 2020 says about Yannis Kyriakides (Cyprus, 1969): ‘He works steadily and methodically at the creation of an oeuvre of considerable quality, which is characterised by a wealth of ideas and the unemphatic incorporation of electronics and extra-musical elements.’ They also describe him as a ‘skilful and intelligent artist who […] makes a connection between accomplishments from the past and questions regarding our future, as in his recent composition Face, in which he adresses artificial intelligence and facial recognition.’