Bass-Baritone Thomas Quasthoff Wins 2025 Rheingau Music Prize

Quasthoff will receive €10,000 in recognition of his contribution to the music world

The German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff has been named as the winner of the prestigious Rheingau Music Prize for 2025. Now in its 32nd year, the prize carries a value of €10,000 and recognizes an outstanding lifetime contribution to the music world.

Until 2012 his retirement from classical singing in 2012, Quasthoff was among the world's foremost bass-baritones. He has been "Artist in Residence" at the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, the Lucerne Festival, Baden-Baden, Hamburg, London's Wigmore Hall, and the Barbican Centre.

His discography is widely acclaimed, with three of his discs receiving GRAMMY awards and six receiving the Echo Prize. On the concert platform, he has collaborated with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, Helmuth, Christian Thielemann, and Franz Welser-Möst.

Quasthoff's work has garnered him a number of significant honors, including being made a member of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Previous recipients of the Rheingau Music Prize include Julia Fischer, Herbert Blomstedt, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andreas Scholl, and Christoph Eschenbach.

"For five decades now, [Quasthoff] has been shaping the international music world with his unique bass-baritone voice and has set standards with its incomparable expressiveness and stylistic versatility," wrote the prize's organizers. "His tireless commitment to the song and its promotion of young musicians have enriched the genre sustainably and inspired generations of artists."

"In addition to his artistic work, Thomas Quasthoff impresses with his positive attitude to life and his humanity. He is an artist who touches and moves not only with his voice, but also with his personality. With the highest recognition for his life's work and his continuing artistic appeal, the Rheingau Music Festival awards him the Rheingau Music Prize 2025."

"Thomas Quasthoff’s voice comes to the heart," said Timon Gremmels, Hessian Minister for Science and Research, Arts and Culture. "He inspires us with great creative skills, a keen eye for musical nuances and courage. His career is not only characterized by musical success, but also by the commitment to the young generation: as a professor, he accompanies young talents and passes on his passion for precise singing, which moves people. I congratulate you sincerely for the Rheingau Music Prize!"