Klaus Huber To Receive The 2009 Salzburg International Composition Award

Klaus Huber was announced yesterday as the recipient of the 2009 Salzburg Music Prize/International Composition Award.
It is one of the Largest prizes in the music world and is worth about 80,000 Euro or 120,000 Dollars.
The Prize recipient is also asked to choose a young composer for an advancement award, and Huber selected His Protege Franck Christoph Yeznikian, 39, to be the recipient of the 30,000 Euro prize.
The first time the prize was given was in 2006 and it was supposed to be given once every 3 years, but starting 2011 it will be given bi-annually and the sum will drop to about 60,000 Euro.

Huber and his music are not well known in the United States but he has been an established composer on the european scene since the 50’s and His students have included Brian Ferneyhough, Wolfgang Rihm and Toshio Hosokawa.

According to Andrew Patner

Sciarrino, who chaired this year’s jury which also included German radio and festival producer Harry Vogt and conductor Sylvain Cambreling, told me “Huber’s influence as a mentor and teacher is remarkable and remarkably varied. And unlike many composers today, he is a true personality of culture, combining so many areas of interest, knowledge, and concern.”

Huber and Yeznikians compositions, along with Arabic Music will be featured in one of the four weekends of the new Salzburg Biennale in March 2009.