'Honourable Mention' for Simaku

Thomas Simaku has won an Honourable Mention at the 2006 International Competition of Musical Personalities, organised by the Alexander Tansman Association for the Promotion of Culture under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of Poland.

His work Arc-en-ciel for cello and orchestra was among those selected out of 401 candidates from 51 countries by an international jury consisting of renowned composers such as K. Penderecki, H. Holliger, M. Nyman and Z. Krauze. In July, Simaku attended the 2006 World New Music Days Festival in Germany. His work Réflexions de la Croix III was performed at the Theaterhaus in Stuttgart by the German violinist Hannah Weirich and musikFabrik from Cologne - one of Germany's leading ensembles of contemporary music. The concert was recorded by the German radio station SWR2, and was broadcast on 21st September 2006. The Stuttgarter Nachrichten said of the piece: "...Réflexions de la Croix III was the only work in the concert which demonstrated a real individual charisma."