Around the Music Festival

The 4th “Robert Schumann Prize for poetry and music” was awarded to Jörg Wittmann (Germany) who is a clarinet player, conductor and composer. The Prize is founded in 2012, and every two years, the Academy of Science and Literature in Mainz, Germany, presents to those who have made excellent achievements in the field of poetry and music. The first winner is Pierre Boulez, Wolfgang Rihm in 2014 and Aribert Reimann in 2016. The prize money is 15,000 euros. His “indomitable curiosity” is highly appreciated.

Wittmann was born in Munich in 1973. He studied clarinet at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (Hochschule für Musik und Theater München), the Juilliard School, and has played with many conductors and orchestras to date as a player. Meanwhile, he studied composition from the age of 11, and learned from Hans Werner Henze, Wolfgang Rihm and others. He has served as a composer-in-residence for Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Vienna Konzerthaus, Cleveland Orchestra etc. Professor of Composition at the Freiburg Conservatory from 2009. Professor of composition of Barenboim-Said Akademie, principal conductor of the Irish Chamber Orchestra from 2017.

Photo：Bildquelle: Marco Borggreve