Toru Takemitsu Composition Award
The Toru Takemitsu Composition Award (武満徹作曲賞, Takemitsu Tōru sakkyoku-shō) is an international music competition for young composers of contemporary classical music organized in Tokyo, Japan.[1] The award was founded by composer Toru Takemitsu, its namesake.
History
[edit]The Toru Takemitsu Composition Award was established in 1997.[1]
Each year, only one judge picks the winner of the award. For the first 3-year cycle, Takemitsu himself chose the judges: Henri Dutilleux (1997), György Ligeti (1998), and Luciano Berio (1999). Then, after Takemitsu's death, the three successors, Louis Andriessen (2000 recommended by Berio), Oliver Knussen (2001 recommended by Dutilleux) and Joji Yuasa (2002 recommended by Ligeti) were nominated by the initial judges.
For the third 3-year cycle (2003–2005), George Benjamin (2003), Magnus Lindberg (2004) and John Adams (2005 • cancelled) were nominated on the recommendation of the competition's advisors (Hiroyuki Iwaki, Oliver Knussen, Kent Nagano, Kazushi Ohno, Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Hiroshi Wakasugi) and preceding judges.
For the fourth 3-year cycle (2007–2009), the advisors and previous judges selected Akira Nishimura (2007), Steve Reich (2008) and Helmut Lachenmann (2009).
Tristan Murail (2010), Salvatore Sciarrino (2011) and Toshio Hosokawa (2012) were appointed as judges for the new 2010–2012 cycle.[2]
The nominated pieces are performed at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall.[2][3]
As of 2011, fifty different composers had been nominated for this prize since its inception in 1997.
The total sum of the cash award is 3,000,000 Yen each year.[4]
In 2026, the cash awards were:[5]
- 1st Prize: 1,000,000 yen
- 2nd Prize: 800,000 yen
- 3rd Prize: 700,000 yen
- 4th Prize: 500,000 yen
Results
[edit]| Year | Judge | 1st prize | 2nd prize | 3rd prize | 4th prize | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Henri Dutilleux | not awarded |
|
PAGAN II by Marc Kenneth Yeats | ||
| 1998 | György Ligeti | not awarded | not awarded | not awarded | ||
| 1999 | Luciano Berio | "Uninterrupted Song" by Katsuji Maeda | "DINAMORPHIA" by Ken Itō | "Polychrome" by Toshiya Watanabe | ||
| 2000 | Louis Andriessen | "L'été – L'oubli rouge" by Jun Nagao | "AWAKENINGS" by Joe Cutler | "Pulsating" by Sho Ueda | ||
| 2001 | Oliver Knussen |
|
"5 pieces for orchestra" by Luke Bedford | "Stein/Stern" by Ryuji Kubota | ||
| 2002 | Joji Yuasa |
|
|
"Tzolkin" by Michael John Wiley | [8] | |
| 2003 | George Benjamin | "Allégories" by Joël Mérah | "Calling Timbuktu" by Dai Fujikura |
|
||
| 2004 | Magnus Lindberg | "Fantasia on a Theme by Vaughan Williams" by Paul Stanhope |
|
|
||
| 2005 | John Adams | The competition was cancelled | ||||
| 2006 | There was no competition | |||||
| 2007 | Akira Nishimura | "Never Stand Behind Me" by Sho Ueda | "CUBE" by Andrea Portera |
|
||
| 2008 | Steve Reich | "What dou you think about the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?" by Yuichi Matsumoto | "La Noche de Takemitsu" by Tomás Barreiro |
|
||
| 2009 | Helmut Lachenmann | "Hexagonal Pulsar" by Kenji Sakai |
|
|
||
| 2010 | Tristan Murail | "...Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion" by Roberto Toscano (Brazil) |
|
"Deux Presages" by Chikako Yamanaka (Japan) | ||
| 2011 | Salvatore Sciarrino | "Flux et reflux" by Florent Motsch-Etienne (France) | "Subliminal" by Bernd Richard Deutsch (Austria) | "Parts II" by Jan Erik Mikalsen (Norway) | "NAMOK" by Heera Kim (Korea) | [9] |
| 2012 | Toshio Hosokawa | "Mano d'erba, per orchestra" by Federico Gardella (Italy) |
"Une Œuvre pour l'Echo des Rêves (II), pour orchestra" by Ioannis Angelakis (Greece) |
|
||
| 2013 | Harrison Birtwistle | "SIGHS – hommage à Fryderyk Chopin" by Marcin Stańczyk (Poland) | "The Lark in the Snow" by Sumio Kobayashi (Japan) |
|
||
| 2014 | Peter Eötvös | "THE NORTHERN CAMELLIA – GRADATION OF SOUNDING AMITY No. 2" by Kei Daigo (Japan) | "Until the Sea Above Us Is Closed Again" Giovanni Dario Manzini (Italy) |
|
||
| 2015 | Kaija Saariaho |
|
|
not awarded | [10] | |
| 2016 | Toshi Ichiyanagi |
|
|
not awarded | ||
| 2017 | Heinz Holliger | "Paysages entrelacés pour orchestre" by Naoki Sakata (Japan) |
|
not awarded | ||
| 2018 | Unsuk Chin |
|
|
not awarded | [11][12] | |
| 2019 | Philippe Manoury |
|
"Im Bauch des Fisches drei Tage und drei Nächte " by Siqi Liu (China) |
"At The End Of Snow Line" by Zhuosheng Jin (China) |
||
| 2020 | Thomas Adès |
"BORÉAS" by Xinyang Wang (China) |
"SIX PRAYERS" by David Roche (UK) |
"POÈMES DE MIDI" by Francisco Domínguez (Spain) |
"Saṃsāra" by Carmen Ho (UK) |
|
| 2021 | Pascal Dusapin |
"Moonlight Hidden in the Clouds" by Kohsuke Negishi (Japan) |
"BREAKING A MIRROR" by Giorgio Francesco Dalla Villa (Italy) |
|
||
| 2022 | Brian Ferneyhough | Takuto Muromoto (Japan) KEBESU – Circle of Flame for orchestra | Andrea Mattevi (Italy) Comune il principio e la fine del cerchio for symphonic orchestra |
|
||
| 2023 | Jo Kondo | Michael Taplin (UK) Selvedge for full orchestra |
|
Yuheng Chen (China) tracé / trait für Orchester | ||
| 2024 | Mark-Anthony Turnage | Jingyu Chen (Hong Kong SAR) Nebula for symphony orchestra |
|
Alessandro Adamo (Italy) Parenthesis | ||
| 2025 | Georg Friedrich Haas |
|
not awarded |
|
||
| 2026 | Jörg Widmann | Jaehyeok Choi (Korea) Supernova for orchestra | Ziyi Tao (US) If for orchestra | Kenshi Matsuo (Japan) Variations for Orchestra | Zhehe Cui (China) The Last Gamble for orchestra | [5] |
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Toru Takemitsu Composition Award : Prize : Australian Music Centre". Australian Music Centre. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Toru Takemitsu Composition Award". Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation.
- ↑ "Facilities/Concert Hall". Operacity.jp. 10 September 1997. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
- ↑ "How to entry". operacity.jp. Tokyo: Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation. 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- 1 2 "Results of 2026 (Judge: Jörg Widmann)". Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. 12 July 2026. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
- ↑ "Toru Takemitsu Composition Award: Judges and Schedule". Operacity.jp. 7 December 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
- ↑ "Toru Takemitsu Composition Award: Results". Operacity.jp. 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ↑ Lin, Rouwen (21 January 2015). "Opera and mak yong remixed for the staged story of Kelantan's 'Puteri Saadong'". The Star. Malaysia. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ↑ "Klingender Pointillismus". Lübecker Nachrichten (in German). 18 February 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ↑ Cook, Amanda (20 January 2017). "5 Questions to André de Ridder (Artistic Director, Musica nova Helsinki)". I Care If You Listen. Ithaca, New York. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ↑ Wirausky, Dirk (4 February 2018). "Asiatische Kunst als Quell der Inspiration". Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ↑ Gotoh, Nahoko (4 June 2018). "Unsuk Chin presides over Toru Takemitsu Composition Award". Bachtrack. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
