Azrieli Music Prizes Premieres Four Winning Works at Biennial Gala Concert

The biennial Azrieli Music Prizes (AMP), established in 2014 by Sharon Azrieli CQ for the Azrieli Foundation, aims to discover, elevate, and amplify exceptional artistic voices. Each AMP cycle celebrates excellence in music composition through four focused music prizes.

The 2024 Laureates will present choral works for a cappella choir, with up to four additional instruments and/or vocal soloist(s), at Montréal’s Maison symphonique on October 28, 2024, at 7:30 pm (ET) — which will be streamed LIVE on The Violin Channel.

The performance will feature the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) Chorus and Musicians of the OSM, conducted by Andrew Megill.

Each Laureate receives a prize package valued at over CAD 200,000, including a cash award of CAD 50,000; a world-premiere performance of their prize-winning work at the AMP Gala Concert on October 28; at least two subsequent international performances; and a professional recording of their work for commercial release.

Yair Klartag received the 2024 Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music; Josef Bardanashvili won the 2024 Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music; Jordan Nobles received the 2024 Azrieli Commission for Canadian Music; and Juan Trigos won the first-ever 2024 Azrieli Commission for International Music — a prize created to promote greater intercultural understanding.

This year, three panels of experts selected the winning submissions, including concert music luminaries such as Chaya Czernowin, Tania León, Dr. Neil W. Levin, Samy Moussa, Gerard Schwarz, and Ana Sokolović.

Georgian-Israeli composer Josef Bardanashvili served as the composer-in-residence of the Raanana Symfonette Orchestra in Israel, Musical Director of the International Biennial for Contemporary Music “Tempus Fugit” in Tel-Aviv, and is currently composer-in-residence of the Israel Camerata Jerusalem. He is also a faculty member of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University.

Yair Klartag's music has been commissioned by the Donaueschinger Musiktage, Münchener Kammerorchester, MATA festival, Münchener Biennale, and ZeitRäume festival and performed

by ensembles such as Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. He was the recipient of the Ernst von Siemens Composers Prize, and currently teaches at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.

Jordan Nobles, nominated for ‘Classical Composer of the Year’ at the 2022 Western Canadian Music Awards, is a celebrated composer recognized with a JUNO Award, a Western Canadian Music Award, and numerous international prizes. Nobles’ works have represented Canada on international stages, including at the International Rostrum of Composers and the International Society for Contemporary Music’s World Music Days.

Mexican-American composer and conductor Juan Trigos's output includes six operas, four symphonies, three cantatas, concertos for several instruments, and diverse chamber music. One of the most important commissions is his Symphony No. 3 "Ofrenda a los muertos," which was commissioned by the Houston Symphony. Trigos has been awarded the Fromm Commission from Harvard University’s Fromm Music Foundation. In 2017, he was the Howard Hanson Visiting Professor at the Eastman School of Music. He is currently Assistant Professor of Music in Composition & Theory at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.