Composition Award of the City of Stuttgart

The 70th Composition Prize of the State Capital Stuttgart 2025 goes to Georgia Koumará, Elnaz Seyedi and Ying Wang. The jury decided to once again award three prizes of equal value. They are endowed with 6,500 euros each.

The winners are Georgia Koumará for "I wonder if I should start accessing pleasure a whole lot" for amplified ensemble and electronics from 2022, Elnaz Seyedi for "absolute snow" for clarinet, horn and cello from 2021 and Ying Wang for "SCHMUTZ" for solo violin and ensembles from 2019. The prize-winning compositions will be performed as part of the award ceremony at the ECLAT Festival Neue Musik Stuttgart in February 2026.

112 participants submitted a total of 209 works for the 70th Composition Prize 2025. Members of the jury were Prof. Luxa Martin Schüttler, representative of the Stuttgart State University of Music and Performing Arts, Martina Seeber, representative of Südwestrundfunk, Zeynep Gedizlioğlu, composer, Leopold Hurt, composer, Prof. Svetlana Maraš, composer and sound artist, Dirk Wieschollek, musicologist, and Astrid Schmeling, flutist. The panel was chaired by Marc Gegenfurtner, Head of the Cultural Office of the City of Stuttgart.

The jury recognizes the three works:

"Lust and desire are at the center of 'I wonder if I should start accessing pleasure a whole lot' by Georgia Koumará. Texts about female sexuality are skillfully embedded in a complex and energetic overall sound that makes desire acoustically comprehensible through its immediacy. In her spatial composition, which is permeated by pop music references, Georgia Koumará creates a very unique, intense sound language that is both politically and aesthetically urgent."

"The trio line-up that Elnaz Seyedi has chosen for 'absolute snow' is unusual in itself. Bass clarinet, horn and cello unfold an unconditional colorfulness and energy on the basis of a simple, almost sparse score. With just a few notes and minimal changes, Elnaz Seyedi leads us into a world that slowly spreads out before the listener, occupying the space just as impressively as it empties it again. Above all, however, Elnaz Seyedi shows with 'absolute snow' that asceticism and wealth can be one and the same."

"'SCHMUTZ' by Ying Wang is a work of extremes, of eruptions and collapses, of jubilation as well as silence. The solo violin rolls mountains of material in front of it, losing itself in the omnipresent mass of sound, noise and information as well as in moments of solitude. Although 'SCHMUTZ' is a chamber concerto, it is often of an orchestral expanse, sometimes also a secret double concerto with electric guitar. The longing for liberation and at the same time the need for purification are conveyed very convincingly in this music."

The oldest sponsorship award in the state capital of Stuttgart enjoys an outstanding national reputation - after all, the prize-winning works reflect the stylistic development of New Music in Germany since the end of the Second World War. The idea for the competition came from the former head of the cultural department, Prof. Dr. Hans Schumann. The first composition prize was awarded to Thomas Christian David in 1955, followed by other prizewinners from Stuttgart.

The Composition Prize of the City of Stuttgart is endowed with a total of 20,000 euros. The prize can be awarded in up to three parts. A jury appointed by the city council selects the winners. The prize-winning works are performed the following year at the prizewinners' concert as part of ECLAT - Festival Neue Musik Stuttgart - an opportunity for the prizewinners to present themselves to the public.

In 1961, the Swiss composer Rudolf Kelterborn became the first composer from outside the region to receive the Composition Prize of the State Capital Stuttgart. The first winner was the Korean composer Younghi Pagh-Paan, who lives in Germany, in 1980.

The brochure "60 Years of the Composition Prize of the City of Stuttgart" from the anniversary year 2015 offers interesting insights.

The jury is chaired by First Mayor Dr. Fabian Mayer and the Head of the Cultural Office, Marc Gegenfurtner, as his deputy. The jury is elected for a period of five years in line with the term of office of the municipal council.

Legal representatives: Martina Seeber (representing Südwestrundfunk) and Prof. Martin Schüttler (representing the Stuttgart State University of Music and Performing Arts).

Elected jury members (at the suggestion of the appointed representative and in consultation with the Cultural Office): Zeynep Gedizlioğlu (composer), Leopold Hurt (composer), Prof. Svetlana Maraš (composer and sound artist), Dirk Wieschollek (musicologist), Astrid Schmeling (Ensemble L'ART POUR L'ART, flutist).

An overview of all award winners is summarized here.