2002 ISCM Young Composer Award – Thomas Adès (UK)

Thomas Adès (b. 1971 in London) received the 2002 ISCM Young Composer Award for his string quartet Arcadiana which was performed on 15 October 2002 by Ensemble Antipodes at Hong Kong’s City Hall Concert Hall during the 2002 ISCM World Music Days.

Renowned as both composer and performer, Adès works regularly with the world’s leading orchestras, opera companies and festivals. His compositions include three operas: Powder Her Face; The Tempest (Royal Opera House and Metropolitan Opera); and most recently, The Exterminating Angel, which premiered at the 2016 Salzburg Festival and subsequently has been performed at the Metropolitan Opera, New York and the Royal Opera House, London all conducted by the composer. His orchestral works include Asyla (CBSO, 1997), Tevot (Berlin Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall, 2007), Polaris (New World Symphony, Miami 2011), Violin Concerto Concentric Paths (Berliner Festspiele and the BBC Proms, 2005), In Seven Days (Piano concerto with moving image – LA Philharmonic and RFH London 2008), Totentanz for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and orchestra (BBC Proms, 2013), and Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Boston Symphony Orchestra, 2019). His compositions also include numerous celebrated chamber and solo works. 

The runner-up for the 2002 ISCM Young Composer Award, Martijn Voorvelt (b. 1967 in the Netherlands) was given a commission to compose a new piece for the Axyz Ensemble for them to perform during the International Gaudeamus Music Week 2004. The ensemble, under the direction of Jos Zwaanenburg, gave the world premiere performance of that work, War Parts, in De Duif in Amsterdam on 7 September 2004.