2011 Award
French composer Laurent Durupt is awarded the first Tenso Young Composers Award. The jury (James Wood, Kaspars Putniņš and Leo Samama) chose Durupt from the three finalists that participated in the final round of the Tenso Young Composers Workshop that took place in Riga in March 2011. The other two finalists where Maria Kallionpää (Finland / Austria) and Lauri Mäntysaari (Finland). Read more.
First and second rounds
Workshop leaders: James Wood, Leo Samama and Kaspars Putninš.
With the participation of: Latvijas Radio Koris.
First round: Oslo, 16 and 17 September 2010
Final round: Riga, 10 and 11 March 2011
The first Tenso Composers Workshop – the choir as instrument – was led by British composer, percussionist and conductor James Wood; composer and former director of the Nederlands Kamerkoor Leo Samama; and Kaspars Putninš, conductor of Latvijas Radio Koris. The workshop represented a remarkable opportunity for young composers to also work with Latvijas Radio Koris, one of the finest professional chamber choirs in the world.
The first round, held in Oslo (September 2010), received an almost overwhelming 91 applications from young composers worldwide. From those applications, the following six composers where invited to come to Oslo, present their sketches or short pieces and work with the choir : Magnus Bunnskog (Sweden 1974), Laurent Durupt (France 1978), Maria Kallionpää (Finland 1981), Lauri Mäntysaari (Finland 1982), Frederik Neyrinck (Belgium 1985) and Nicholas Piper (UK/Canada 1983).
Three finalists – Laurent Durupt , Lauri Mäntysaari and Maria Kallionpää – were then selected for the Riga portion of the workshop, taking place on 10 & 11 March 2011. Ultimately, Laurent Durupt was chosen to receive the 2011 Tenso Young Composers Award. The award consists of a commission to write a new work for a cappella choir, to be performed by the European Tenso choirs in their regular concert seasons, and a commission fee of € 1250. During the composition process, Laurent Durupt will have the opportunity to regularly consult the jury members and to test his work-in-progress with the Latvijas Radio Koris. The premiere will take place in 2014.
Listen to a fragment of Akihaze by Laurent Durupt
Listen to a fragment of Seamar by Maria Kallionpää
Listen to a fragment of Gloria by Lauri Mäntysaari
Tenso Young Composers Workshop is organized with the friendly support of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung and the Culture Programme of the European Union.
picture, left to right: Maria Kallionpää, Magnus Bunnskog, Nicholas Piper, Lauri Mäntysaari, workshop leader James Wood, Laurent Durupt, Frederik Neyrinck