At the end of the International Gaudeamus Music Week 2005, which took place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 4 to 11 September, the GAUDEAMUS PRIZE was awarded to Oscar Bianchi (Italy, 1975). He received the prize for Primordia Rerum, a composition performed on September 6 in the “Muziekgebouw aan ‘t Y” by the Nieuw Ensemble, conducted by Lucas Vis. The Gaudeamus Prize is 4550 Euros, intended as a commission for a new work to be performed in the following edition of the Music Week in 2006. There were two Honorable Mentions: Andrea Agostini (Italy, 1975) received an honorable mention for Funus for tape, played on September 4; Dai Fujikura (Japan, 1977) received an honorable mention for Fifth Station, performed by the Asko Ensemble on September 5, conducted by Ilan Volkov. The composers who receive an honorable mention are asked, without commission, to propose a new or recent work for performance during the following Gaudeamus Music Week. The Gaudeamus Prize and the honorable mentions have been awarded by the jury consisting of Hans Koolmees (The Netherlands), Isao Matsushita (Japan) and Alvin Curran (United States). For the International Gaudeamus Music Week 2005, open to composers under 31, the Gaudeamus Foundation received 368 scores from 51 countries; the jury selected 17 works to compete for the Gaudeamus Prize 2005. Also photos available at: Gaudeamus Contemporary Music Center Piet Heinkade 5 1019 BR Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 5191800 info@gaudeamus.nl www.gaudeamus.nl Gaudeamus Prize 2005: Oscar Bianchi (Italy, 1975) Born in Milan, Italy, Oscar Bianchi began studying music at the age of eight. At the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan he studied composition, choral music, conducting and electronic music, in addition to studying electronic music at the conservatories of Bologna and Modena. He continues to develop in masterclasses and international residencies (Atlantic Center for the Arts, Città di Castello, Darmstadt Ferienkurse, Royaumont, Stockholm International Composition Course, International Eötvös Institute and Foundation in Stuttgart, and IRCAM), where he has worked with many of today’s renowned composers. His music has been performed in Europe and the USA (IRCAM-Centre Pompidou, Abbaye du Royaumont, World New Music Days 2004, International Gaudeamus Music Week, the Zurich Tages für Neue Musik, Kulturhuset in Stockholm, Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Stuttgart Hochschule für Musik, Sonora Festival in Cologne, ASM/STV and OggiMusica in Lugano, Musica e Realtà and Nuove Sincronie in Milan, Nuova Consonanza and National Dance Academy of Rome, Società Veneziana dei Concerti, Arena del Sole in Bologna, University of Bologna, Arena di Verona, Sulle ali del Novecento/Dèdalo Ensemble of Brescia, and Biennale di Porto Ercole). France Musique, Italian RAI Tre Radio and RAI TV, Swedish Radio P2, RTSI (Italian-Swiss) and RSR (French-Swiss) have all broadcast his music. Future projects include new works for ensemble l’Itinéraire, Ensemble Cattral and Les Percussions de Strasbourg. He is participating in the PAAD 2005-2006 program (Atlantic Pole of Digital Art, Spain), and has been named Faculty Fellow for a DMA in music composition at Columbia University, New York. Honorable Mention: Andrea Agostini (Italy, 1975) Andrea Agostini began his music studies at a very young age. He graduated in composition and electronic music with first class honors, and in piano, and is also an accomplished electric bass player. He has participated in masterclasses with Gilberto Cappelli, Alessandro Solbiati, and Ivan Fedele, and has won or was a finalist in several competitions (among the others, winner at Musica Viva 2003, and finalist at Prix Noroit 2002 and the Third Seoul Competition for Composers). His works have been performed at several venues in Italy and abroad, such as at the American Music Week 2002 in Sofia, Sincronie 2004 in Milan with Otolab, the Italian Cultural Institute and German Rundfunk in Cologne with Alter Ego. He has composed and performed music for radio, film and theater. His curiosity in all types of contemporary music scenes has led him to work with groups from rock to jazz to new music. The last few years rock music, along with electronics, is his main focus of interest; he is member of the band Frida X, with whom he has performed and released a CD, and he is keyboardist and responsible for live electronics in C-Project, a group active in the sonorization of theater performances. He is performs and composes with Icarus Ensemble, and with video installations and performances of works by Fausto Romitelli, Giovanni Verrando, Adriano Guarnieri and others. Honorable Mention: Dai Fujikura (Japan, 1977) Dai Fujikura came to Europe at the age of fifteen and studied at Trinity College of Music with Daryl Runswick. Later he continued at the Royal College of Music with Edwin Roxburgh. Currently he is studying with George Benjamin at King’s College in London. In 1998 he won the Serocki International Composers’ Competition for Children, performed by the Polish Radio Orchestra and broadcast in fifteen European countries. That same year he won the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Young Composers Award with Frozen Heat, performed by Orkest De Volharding and by the London Sinfonietta in the Queen Elizabeth Hall. He also won a prize in the percussion duo category at the Huddersfield Festival 1999 with Grayed Rainbow, performed by Colin Currie and Julian Warburton. In 2000 his chamber opera This Could Be Beautiful? was premiered at Hoxton Hall by the Adorning Opera Company. He has written music for the short film Salt Scrubbers, shown in the London Film Festival 2002. In 2003 he received second prize in the Toru Takemitsu competition for calling Timbuktu, premiered in Tokyo by the Tokyo Philharmonic and broadcast on NHK. The BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Malaysian Philhamonic Orchestra and Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra also have performed this work. Pierre Boulez commissioned him for an orchestral piece to be performed under his direction in the Lucerne Festival Academy in 2005. In 2004 the Philharmonia portrayed him in the “Music of Today” series in the Royal Festival Hall. Recently he received the Internationaler Wiener Composition Prize (Claudio Abbado Composition Award). Performers of his music include Peter Eötvös, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble InterContemporain, Ensemble BIT20, Harry Sparnaay, Gerard McChrystal, Richard Benjafield, Apollo Saxophone Quartet, Odaline de la Martinez, Nicholas Hodges, Colin Currie, Tomoko Mukaiyama, Wissam Boustany, Ensemble Nomad and the London Sinfonietta.