University of York Music Press

This is the highest worldwide prize for an electronic music award, and is given by the ZKM | Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe and the EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO des SWR Freiburg. The award ceremony will be held at the ZKM | Karlsruhe on November 29th, 2008 (starting at 7.00pm), in conjunction with two Award Winner Concerts on November 28th and 29th (8.30pm). This is the second year of this award, and on both occasions it has been won by a British composer; the 2007 winner was Jonathan Harvey.

History of the Prize

In 2007, the ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics and the EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO des SWR inaugurated the annual Giga-Hertz Award for electronic music. This new international music award with its future-oriented concept exists thanks to the initiative and commitment of ZKM director Peter Weibel. The award is funded by the city of Karlsruhe and the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg. The Giga-Hertz Award addresses composers working in the areas of electronic and acousmatic music. Four Special Prizes are awarded each year by an international jury, while the Grand Prize honors the artistic achievements of outstanding composers. It is not awarded in the framework of a public competition but is selected from the nominations of the jury members. The four Special Prizes serve to initiate and support new projects, and are aimed especially at young composers in electronic and acousmatic music. The Giga-Hertz-Award is named in memory of the world-famous physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894), who taught at the Karlsruhe Technical University at the end of the nineteenth century; it was there that he discovered electromagnetic waves. This award for electronic and acousmatic compositions is unique in Germany and underlines the importance of electronic music, especially in Baden-Württemberg. The award is supported by the two most important German studios for electronic music — Freiburg's EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO des SWR and the ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics (IMA) in Karlsruhe. The patron of the Giga-Hertz Award is the Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, Guenther H. Oettinger. The 2008 jury included: * François Bayle, pioneer of electroacoustic and acousmatic music who developed the famous Acousmonium. * Jonathan Harvey, one of the most skilled, and imaginative composers of our time who in 2007 was awarded with the first Giga-Hertz Grand Prize in recognition of his lifework. * Armin Köhler, editor-in chief for New Music at the SWR broadcasting corporation and responsible for the Donaueschinger Musiktage. * Peter Weibel, CEO of the ZKM Karlsruhe, former artistic director of the Ars Electronica in Linz, and professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.