2021 Hindemith Composers Prize Winner Announced

Turkish composer Mithatcan Öcal will receive the award at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, in Germany

The prize, which honors exceptional contemporary composers, includes 20,000 Euros.

Öcal has previously won international prizes such as the Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Académie Voix nouvelles Royaumont, Akademie Schloss Solitude, and the Akademie der Künste Berlin.

"Composing contemporary music requires a lot of research and creativity," said Öcal. "Awards like the Hindemith Prize give you room for this, because they secure your livelihood. I am very happy about this award and about being named together with Paul Hindemith. Although, I wish for a world in which it is not necessary to award prizes in order to be able to pursue one's work intensively."

"Mithatcan Öcal shows an impressive tonal complexity in his works," said Dr. Christian Kuhnt, artistic director of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. "Through the fine nuances in the instrumentation, the harmonic design and the special musical expression, he touches his audience in an immediate way."