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Konstantin Heuer wins Gaudeamus Prize 2012

12 September 2012

After the closing concert of the Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2012 on 9 September, the winner of the Gaudeamus Prize 2012 was announced. Out of the thirteen nominees, the international jury consisting of Martijn Padding (NL), Annie Gosfield (USA) and Christopher Butterfield (CAN) unanimously chose Konstantin Heuer (1989) from Germany. The award was presented by jury member Christopher Butterfield. Maxim Shalygin (1985, Ukraine / Netherlands) and Edward Hamel (1986, USA) received an honorable mention for their submitted work. In total, almost 300 compositions were submitted for the Gaudeamus Prize 2012. The Gaudeamus Muziekweek, the international festival for new music, is a meeting place for a lot of young composers. Over the past week, all thirteen nominated compositions were performed during the festival. The winning piece, Alaska - for two speakers, soprano, tenor, bass, six violins, viola, cello and electronics - by Heuer was performed on Tuesday by VocaalLAB and the String Orchestra of the HKU. Letters to Anna by Maxim Shalygin was performed on Saturday by Emmy Storms. The submitted work of Edward Hamel, Countenance - for alto flute, English horn, baritone saxophone, violin, viola, cello and double bass - was also performed on Saturday by Ensemble Insomnio. Jury and prize The jury: these three composers are "rebellious and controversial within their own system". Heuer's work was considered very "imaginative, timeless and unmodern". The Gaudeamus Prize consists of € 4,550 intended as a commission for a new work to be performed at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2012. For many composers this prize means international recognition and a stepping stone to start off their careers. Composers with an honorable mention are invited to return next year and submit a new or recent (uncommissioned) work to be performed at the festival. Konstantin Heuer (1989) Heuer was born in Leipzig. Since 2009 he has been studying composition at the Academy for Music and Theatre Rostock with Prof. Peter Manfred Wolf. The main themes of his occupation with music are developing his compositional technique, writing music with the help of it and establishing and directing a contemporary music ensemble called Neophon. Concerning the compositional technique, Heuer tries to formulate Renaissance rules about harmony, rhythm and part writing mathematically. Thereby he extends them into microtonal tuning systems, smoothing the borders between consonance and dissonance without violating their old hierarchy: the gravity towards 1, the unison. Having reached some conclusions systematizing the aforementioned three musical parameters, that satisfy him for the moment, he is now especially interested in constructing rules about their conjunction and in utilizing them for aesthetical and expressional purposes.