Ernst von Siemens Music Prize

The Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (short: Siemens Music Prize, German: Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis) is an annual music prize given by the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste (Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts) on behalf of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung [de] (Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation), established in 1972. The foundation was established by Ernst von Siemens (1903–1990) and promotes contemporary music. The prize honors a composer, performer, or musicologist who has made a distinguished contribution to the world of music. In addition to the main prize, other prizes are also given. The total prize money given is currently €3.5 million, with the winner of the main prize receiving €250,000.^[2] The prize is sometimes known as "the Nobel Prize of music".^[3]

Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
Awarded for	"personalities whose compositions, interpretations, writings, or teaching served music and promoted the love of music"[1]
Sponsored by	Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, Zug, Switzerland
Location	Munich
Country	Germany
Presented by	Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste and Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
Reward(s)	€250,000 (main prize)
Established	1972
First award	1974
Website	www.evs-musikstiftung.ch/en

English composer Benjamin Britten was the first winner of the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 1974.

Smaller awards are called "Förderpreis" (encouragement award). "Komponisten-Förderpreise" ("Composer Prizes") are given to young composers for one of their works. "Förderprojekte" ("Grant-in-Aid Projects") support music festivals, concerts, musical institutions, and young musicians.

Main prize winners

Winners of the main prize were:^[4]

• 1974 – Benjamin Britten
• 1975 – Olivier Messiaen
• 1976 – Mstislav Rostropovich
• 1977 – Herbert von Karajan
• 1978 – Rudolf Serkin
• 1979 – Pierre Boulez
• 1980 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
• 1981 – Elliott Carter^[5]
• 1982 – Gidon Kremer
• 1983 – Witold Lutosławski
• 1984 – Yehudi Menuhin
• 1985 – Andrés Segovia
• 1986 – Karlheinz Stockhausen
• 1987 – Leonard Bernstein^[6][7]
• 1988 – Peter Schreier
• 1989 – Luciano Berio
• 1990 – Hans Werner Henze
• 1991 – Heinz Holliger
• 1992 – H. C. Robbins Landon
• 1993 – György Ligeti
• 1994 – Claudio Abbado^[8][9]
• 1995 – Sir Harrison Birtwistle
• 1996 – Maurizio Pollini
• 1997 – Helmut Lachenmann
• 1998 – György Kurtág
• 1999 – Arditti Quartet
• 2000 – Mauricio Kagel
• 2001 – Reinhold Brinkmann^[10]
• 2002 – Nikolaus Harnoncourt
• 2003 – Wolfgang Rihm
• 2004 – Alfred Brendel
• 2005 – Henri Dutilleux^[11]
• 2006 – Daniel Barenboim
• 2007 – Brian Ferneyhough^[12]
• 2008 – Anne-Sophie Mutter
• 2009 – Klaus Huber
• 2010 – Michael Gielen^[13]
• 2011 – Aribert Reimann
• 2012 – Friedrich Cerha
• 2013 – Mariss Jansons^[14]
• 2014 – Peter Gülke
• 2015 – Christoph Eschenbach
• 2016 – Per Nørgård
• 2017 – Pierre-Laurent Aimard^[15]
• 2018 – Beat Furrer^[16][17]
• 2019 – Rebecca Saunders^[18]
• 2020 – Tabea Zimmermann^[19]
• 2021 – Georges Aperghis^[20]
• 2022 – Olga Neuwirth^[21]
• 2023 – Sir George Benjamin^[22]
• 2024 – Unsuk Chin^[23]
• 2025 – Sir Simon Rattle^[24][25]

Composer Prize winners

Förderpreis winners were:^[26]

• 1990 – Michael Jarrell and George Lopez
• 1991 – Herbert Willi
• 1992 – Beat Furrer and Benedict Mason
• 1993 – Sylvia Fomina and Param Vir
• 1994 – Hans-Jürgen von Bose, Marc-André Dalbavie and Luca Francesconi
• 1995 – Gerd Kühr and Philippe Hurel
• 1996 – Volker Nickel and Rebecca Saunders
• 1997 – Moritz Eggert and Mauricio Sotelo
• 1998 – Antoine Bonnet and Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf
• 1999 – Thomas Adès and Olga Neuwirth
• 2000 – Hanspeter Kyburz, Augusta Read Thomas and Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini
• 2001 – Isabel Mundry, André Werner and José María Sánchez-Verdú
• 2002 – Mark Andre, Jan Müller-Wieland and Charlotte Seither
• 2003 – Chaya Czernowin, Christian Jost and Jörg Widmann
• 2004 – Fabien Lévy, Johannes Maria Staud and Enno Poppe
• 2005 – Sebastian Claren, Philipp Maintz and Michel van der Aa
• 2006 – Jens Joneleit, Alexander Muno and Athanasia Tzanou
• 2007 – Vykintas Baltakas and Markus Hechtle
• 2008 – Dieter Ammann, Márton Illés and Wolfram Schurig
• 2009 – Francesco Filidei, Miroslav Srnka and Lin Yang
• 2010 – Pierluigi Billone, Arnulf Herrmann, Oliver Schneller
• 2011 – Steven Daverson, Hèctor Parra, Hans Thomalla
• 2012 – Luke Bedford, Zeynep Gedizlioğlu, Ulrich Alexander Kreppein
• 2013 – David Philip Hefti, Samy Moussa, Marko Nikodijevic
• 2014 – Simone Movio, Brigitta Muntendorf, Luis Codera Puzo
• 2015 – Birke J. Bertelsmeier, Mark Barden, Christian Mason
• 2016 – Milica Djordjevic, David Hudry, Gordon Kampe
• 2017 – Michael Pelzel [ja], Simon Steen-Andersen, Lisa Streich
• 2018 – Clara Iannotta [fr], Timothy McCormack, Oriol Saladrigues^[17]
• 2019 – Annesley Black, Ann Cleare, Mithatcan Öcal^[27]
• 2020 – Catherine Lamb, Francesca Verunelli, Samir Amarouch^[28]
• 2021 – Malte Giesen [de], Mirela Ivičević, Yair Klartag^[20]
• 2022 – Benjamin Attahir, Naomi Pinnock, Mikel Urquiza^[21]
• 2023 – Sara Glojnarić, Alex Paxton, Eric Wubbels^[22]
• 2024 – Yiqing Zhu, Daniele Ghisi, Bára Gísladóttir
• 2025 – Ashkan Behzadi, Bastien David, Kristine Tjøgersen [no]^[29]