Esa-Pekka Salonen Receives 2024 Polar Music Prize

The Finnish conductor and composer will receive a cash prize of one million Swedish kroner (approximately $94,000)

Conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen has been named as the recipient of the Polar Music Prize for 2024. Established in 1989 by former ABBA manager Stig Anderson, the prize carries a value of one million Swedish kroner (approximately $94,000) and is awarded annually to recognize exceptional achievement in music.

Salonen will receive the prize at a ceremony in Stockholm in the presence of the Swedish Royal Family, which is set to take place on Tuesday, May 21 at the city's Grand Hôtel. It will also be broadcast live on Sweden's TV4 channel at 8pm CET.

Presently Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, Salonen is also a conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He is also on faculty at the Colburn School, where he develops, leads, and directs the pre-professional Negaunee Conducting Program.

Salonen is co-founder of the annual Baltic Sea Festival, and until 2018 he also served as its Artistic Director.

"I’m honored and excited to be one of the recipients of this year’s Polar Music Prize," Salonen said. "Sweden has long been a musical home to me. Many of my fondest experiences — my years with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Baltic Sea Festival, and the Stockholm International Composer Festival — have taken place here. But it’s the people and culture of Sweden who deserve so much of my gratitude."

"Without the support of some of the leading cultural institutions of this country, especially the Swedish National Radio, my musical biography would be missing several key details. I’m very much looking forward to joining Nile Rodgers in Stockholm this spring to receive this illustrious prize."

"Esa-Pekka Salonen is an innovator," said Marie Ledin, managing director of the Polar Music Prize. "His artistic curiosity, creativity, and forward-thinking approach to composing and conducting paves the way in classical music. He is a master of tone, perfectly balancing sound and emotion to produce and lead music that deeply moves the listener."