At the final concert of the International Gaudeamus Music Week 2008, which took place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 1 to 7 September, the Gaudeamus Prize was awarded to the American composer Huck Hodge (1977). He receives the award of 4,550 Euros, intended as a commission for a new work to be performed at the next edition of the International Gaudeamus Music Week. Hodge received the prize for Parallaxes, a composition for ensemble, performed on September 3 at the “Muziekgebouw aan ’t Y” by the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble conducted by Bas Wiegers. There were two honorable mentions: Valerio De Bonis (Italy, 1981) received the mention for Un cadeau pour for video, played on 2 September in the “Muziekgebouw”, and Hugo Morales Murguia (Mexico, 1979) received an honorable mention for \_/, a composition for amplified triangle, performed on 5 September in the “Bimhuis” by Juan Martinez. The Gaudeamus Prize and the honorable mentions were awarded by jury members Michael Daugherty (United States), David Dramm (The Netherlands) en Peter Swinnen (Belgium). For this year’s International Gaudeamus Music Week, which was open to composers under 31, the Gaudeamus Foundation received more than 400 scores from all over the world; the jury subsequently selected 13 works to compete for the Gaudeamus Prize 2008. For the first time the International Gaudeamus Music Week was presented by Music Center the Netherlands (MCN), the new sector institute for music. In the past the Gaudeamus Foundation organized the International Gaudeamus Music Week. MCN will continue with this tradition of 63 years: the next Gaudeamus Music Week will take place from 7 to 13 September 2009 in Amsterdam. For more information: Arthur van der Drift Music Center the Netherlands Contemporary Music Department Rokin 111 1012 KN Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31-20-3446062 Email: a.van.der.drift@muziekcentrumnederland.nl Internet: www.mcn.nl Have a look at EFA's photo gallery on the International Gaudeamus Music Week 2008. Huck Hodge, United States, 1977 The recent music of Huck Hodge is influenced by East Asian musical traditions, music of the early Renaissance, Western and Eastern philosophical inquiry and the fields of psychoacoustics and cognition. He has received numerous commissions, awards and honors from organizations and ensembles such as the Centre Acanthes, the American Composers Forum, the Jerome Foundation, the Manhattan Sinfonietta, the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players, and Musik der Jahrhunderte as part of the ISCM World New Music Festival. Other commissions and/or performances include collaborations with members of Ensemble Modern and the Berlin Philharmonic, the soloists of the Orchestre National de Lorraine, the New York Miniaturist Ensemble, Second Instrumental Unit, Ensemble Adapter, and Counter)induction. His music has been performed throughout the world at numerous festivals such as Acanthes, MaerzMusik and the ISCM Global Interplay festivals. His work has received funding through organizations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, the Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music, and the DAAD. Hodge received a doctorate in composition from Columbia University, where his principal composition teacher was Tristan Murail. He has also studied with Fred Lerdahl and Walter Zimmermann at Columbia and at the Universität der Künste, Berlin. Prior to this he studied music theory and computer music at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart, where his teachers included Georg Wötzer and Marco Stroppa. He is currently assistant professor in composition at the University of Washington, Seattle.