News

23.5.2026

Congratulation to this year’s prize winner!

The annual prize ceremony of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation took place yesterday evening in Munich, where the Foundation’s Curatorium honored Jordi Savall for his life’s work. In its citation, the Foundation described Savall as an artist whose work has made early music a living and expressive presence, showing that historical sounds are not relics of the past, but bridges between people and eras. The laudatory speech for the music prize recipient was delivered by the Swiss violinist Edouard Mätzener. The composers Bethan Morgan-Williams, Hovik Sardaryan, and Kitty Xiao, together with the ensembles NO HAY BANDA from Canada and Ensemble for New Music Tallinn, also received prizes

24.4.2026

Out Now: (it looks like someone lived there) by Noami Pinnock

(it looks like someone lived there) with works by Noami Pinnock has been released by Prospero Classical. The release brings together four iconic recent works, performed by outstanding musicians and ensembles. Soprano Juliet Fraser, Montreal’s Quatuor Bozzini, London’s Riot Ensemble, and the Exaudi Vocal Ensemble contribute original recordings, while a live performance with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne completes the set.

15.4.2026

Anna Schürmer appointed Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation Professor at Freie Universität Berlin

Anna Schürmer will assume the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation Professorship for Contemporary Music at the Department of Musicology at Freie Universität Berlin in the summer semester of 2026. The endowed professorship combines perspectives from musical practice and musicological research.

21.1.2026

Jordi Savall Receives the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize

Jordi Savall receives the 2026 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize. As a performer, scholar, and musical ambassador, he has made seminal contributions to early music and historically informed performance practice. His concerts and recordings are regarded as landmarks in the field, and as a teacher and ensemble director he has shaped generations of musicians. In 1991, his music for the historical film Tous les matins du monde (The Seventh String) brought him international recognition and introduced his work to audiences worldwide.

21.1.2026

Composer Prizes Awarded to Bethan Morgan-Williams, Hovik Sardaryan, and Kitty Xiao

This year’s Composer Prizes are awarded to Bethan Morgan-Williams, Hovik Sardaryan, and Kitty Xiao. The Curatorium of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation has decided to honor three very different young composers. Each Composer Prize is endowed with €35,000 and additionally includes a digital recording release.

21.1.2026

Ensemble Prizes ’26 to NO HAY BANDA and Ensemble for New Music Tallinn

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is awarding the Ensemble Prizes ’26 to NO HAY BANDA from Canada and the Ensemble for New Music Tallinn from Estonia. The prize will be presented for the sixth time in 2026 to outstanding young ensembles and is endowed with €75,000 each. Both ensembles have been invited to perform at the Warsaw Autumn festival in September 2026.

31.10.2025

collective lovemusic at Wien Modern!

collective lovemusic will perform for the first time on November 16, 2025 as part of Wien Modern! The programme includes the work The Sad Album, which the ensemble developed together with composer and singer Laura Bowler and premiered at Musica Strasbourg in September.

18.5.2025

Congratulations to our Prize Winners

This year's Ernst von Siemens Music Prizes were awarded yesterday in Munich.

16.5.2025

CD Release!
Works by Kristine Tjøgersen

Night Lives featuring works by Kristine Tjøgersen has been released on the label Aurora Records. Under the motto “For bats, owls, stentors and moths. We humans are the ones who living in the dark,” the composer has recorded six works on CD with the Cikada Ensemble.

23.4.2025

Six projects selected for special funding for musical projects for children and young people

For the first time, the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is offering special funding for musical projects for children and young people. Due to the high number of projects with compelling content, the Foundation Board of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation has decided to increase the funding amount to EUR 150,000 so that six projects can be supported in the 2025/2026 concert season.

23.4.2025

Prize Ceremony 2025

The presentation of the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize 2025, the Composer Prizes and the Ensemble Prizes will take place on May 17, 2025 at 7 pm in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residence.

30.1.2025

CD release!! Works by Oriol Saladrigues Brunet

Your message could not be delivered to one or more recipients with works by Oriol Saladrigues Brunet, has been released by the Kairos label.

16.1.2025

2025 Composer Prizes to Ashkan Behzadi, Bastien David and Kristine Tjøgersen

The 2025 Composer Prizes, each worth 35,000 euros, have been awarded to Ashkan Behzadi (Iranian-Canadian), Bastien David (France), and Kristine Tjøgersen (Norway). In addition to the Prize money, music productions are also part of the Prizes.

16.1.2025

Ernst von Siemens Music Prize 2025 Awarded to Sir Simon Rattle

The 2025 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize will be awarded to British-German conductor Sir Simon Rattle. The Board of Trustees of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation honours one of the most significant and influential conductors of our time.

16.1.2025

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation Awards a Total of 4 Million Euros for the First Time

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation will award a total of four million euros in project funding for the first time in 2025. Of this amount, the largest share of 3.3 million euros will support contemporary music projects worldwide. Compared to the previous year, the amount of funding has increased by around 350,000 euros.
Les Siècles

6.12.2024

räsonanz – Donor Concert with works by Pierre Boulez on January 9, 2025 at Prinzregententheater Munich

The 2025 räsonanz – Donor Concert in collaboration with the Bayerischer Rundfunk's musica viva is dedicated to the composer Pierre Boulez. To mark the 100th anniversary of Boulez's birth, two of his key works will be performed. Eclat-Multiples and Pli selon pli will be played by Les Siècles under the baton of Franck Ollu at the Prinzregententheater in Munich at 8 p.m. on 9 January 2025. Soprano Sarah Aristidou will perform the vocal part.

3.11.2024

Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation’s support educational projects

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is pleased to announce that it will be offering special funding for projects aimed at children and young people for the 2025/26 concert season. The promotion of educational projects is intended to have a broad impact and reach children and young people without any previous musical background.

3.11.2024

Young Composers’ Forum

On December 12, 2024 at 7 pm, Minzuo Lu will present her new work Ihr, Monolog as part of the Young Composer’s Forum. This year, the Chinese composer Minzuo Lu (1991) was selected for the Young Composer’s Forum by the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. Minzuo Lu has been commissioned to compose a piece and will curate the concert in which her work will be performed for the first time.

30.10.2024

Ensemble Prize ’25 to Collective lovemusic and ensemble Tacet(i)

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is pleased to award the two Ensemble Prizes ’25 to Collective lovemusic from France and the ensemble Tacet(i) from Thailand. The Prize, which is endowed each with 75,000 euros, will be presented to outstanding young ensembles in 2025, marking the fifth year the Prize has been awarded.

1.10.2024

On 24 Oktober, the next part of the workshop series “Community in Practice” will take place.”

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is committed to the topic of "sustainability in cultural work" and would like to deal with this topic as responsibly as possible. For this reason, we have initiated a series of workshops on sustainability perspectives in contemporary music together with other funding organisations. The next workshop on 24 October 2024 from 16:00-17:30 will focus on Sustainable event and festival organisation.

29.7.2024

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation mourns the loss of Wolfgang Rihm

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation mourns the loss of Wolfgang Rihm. In Wolfgang Rihm, the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation has lost a long-standing and important member of its Board of Trustees. An outstanding personality in contemporary music, he had a lasting influence on the foundation's fortunes and face for a quarter of a century.