Thomas Simaku - Winner of the 2004 Serocki International Prize

The jury meetings of the 2004 Kazimierz Serocki International Composer's Competition took place from 14th to 16th May 2004 in Radziejowice Palace near Warsaw. After the examination of 98 compositions submitted from all over the world, the jury, chaired by the distinguished Polish composer Zygmunt Krauze, gave the First Prize of the Polish Society for Contemporary Music to Thomas Simaku for his composition Plenilunio II per Orchestra d'Archi.

The prize, worth $5,000, was funded by Poland's Ministry of Culture. Simaku received the award at at a special concert organised by the ISCM Polish Section in the Lutoslawski Hall in Warsaw, where his work was performed by the Polish Radio Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. The concert was broadcast live on national radio and offered to all members of the European Broadcasting Union.

Simaku's other work, Wind Quintet 'Hommage à Igor Stravinsky', will be performed on 13th June 2004 at the Purcell Room, South Bank, London by the Harlequin Quintet. Harlequin is established as a major wind ensemble whose concerts have included performances on BBC Radios 3 and 4. Dr Simaku has recently been awarded a research fellowship of £21,000 by the Leverhulme Trust to enable him to conduct a programme of research in composition towards further stylistic development and crystallisation of his musical language.