The prize will be awarded by Günter WiegandSir Simon Rattle receives the Glashütte Original Music Festival Prize
The Dresden Music Festival and the watch manufactory Glashütte Original have announced the winner of this year’s Glashütte Original MusicFestivalAward. The prize, worth 25,000 Euro, goes to the Berlin Philharmonic and its chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle. The famous ensemble will be heard on 3rd June at the Semper Opera with Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. Prior to the concert, the prize will be awarded by the Managing Director of Glashütte Original, Günter Wiegand.
Since 2002 Sir Simon Rattle has been Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmonie and Principal Conductor of the Philharmonic. He has already enjoyed a long collaboration with the orchestra that is not only characterized by numerous award-winning recordings but also by new ways to make music accessible to young people of a different social and cultural background. For his commitment, Sir Simon Rattle received, among others, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Sir Simon Rattle is one of the most versatile artists of today. As concert and opera conductor he performs a repertoire that ranges from Baroque to Contemporary Music.
In 2004, the Glashütte Original MusicFestivalAward was created by the Dresden Music Festival and Glashütte Original. This prize honors the lifetime achievements of artists who have dedicated themselves to the creative arts and have made these the subject of continuous development. Former prize winners include the conductor Kurt Masur, the choreographer John Neumeier, the opera director Joachim Herz, the violinist Gidon Kremer and the mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig. With the awarding of the prize in 2009 to the conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the prize took on a new dimension. With the Venezuelan conductor Dudamel, it was the first time that the prize went to an artist who had made a significant contribution to the promotion of young up-and coming talent.
The same is valid for Valery Gergiev, Director and General Manager of the renowned Mariinsky Theatre, who was awarded the prize in 2010. The prize money supports the promotion of these young artists, completely in accord with the intention of the award. As in the past years, two apprentices from the Alfred Helwig School of Watchmaking undertook the construction of the Glashütte Original MusicFestivalAward.
The school, which is part of the Glashütte Original watch manufactory, trains twelve watchmakers and three toolmakers each year. The prize’s design combines traditional watchmaking craftsmanship with modern materials. The Flying Tourbillon, with its 18 tiny weight screws, symbolises the virtuosity of the watchmakers. It is regarded as a sign of the highest levels of the art of watchmaking and was developed in Glashütte in 1920 by Alfred Helwig.