Jury:
Roderik de Man (chairman)
Arne Nordheim
Ikaros van Duppen
René Uijlenhoet
Michel Waisvisz

 

Elsa Justel

Alwynne Pritchard

Bas Kalle

Federico Schumacher Ratti

pictures...

 

 

 

On May 9th the Prix Ton Bruynèl 2005 was awarded to the Argentinian composer Elsa Justel (1944) for her work 'Baste't for tape. The prize consists of an amount of 5000 Euroas a commission for a new piece. The winning work was performed during the International Gaudeamus Musicweek 2005.

The jury also awarded two mentions of 1500 Euro to the Dutch composer Bas Kalle (1977) for his work 'Drieluik' and to the Chilean composer Federico Schumacher Ratti (1963) for his work 'Minga Sola I'.
As an extra a special prize was given to English composer Alwynne Pritchard (1968) for her work 'Decoy' for ensemble and live electronics.


Elsa Justel studied composition and electroacoustic music in Buenos Aires. She is established in France since 1988 where she received her doctorate in computer music at the University of Paris VIII. Nowadays she is professor of electronic arts at the University of Marne la Vallée. 'Bastet', inspired by the Egyptian cat-goddess, was commissioned by Aprem-Nevers.
The piece starts in the interior regions of the piano. Bewildered by these unfamiliar surroundings, she tries to escape whilst scratching the strings. The work explores the meaning of ambiguity, instability and chance.
The jury admired the refined sounds and immense technical command in this work. 'A daring and elegant composition, very carefully structured and humourous as well.'


Alwynne Pritchard was born in Glasgow in 1968. Encouraged by her father, the composer Gwyn Pritchard, she began composing as a teenager and went on to study composition with Robert Saxton at the Guildhall School of Music, and later with Justin Connolly and Michael Finnissy at the Royal Academy of Music where she was awarded many prizes for her work. 'Decoy' was written for the ensemble Recherche and was premiered during the Donaueschinger Musiktagen 2004. The form and rhythmical structure is based on a magical square from the sixth order by Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535) in which he linked the seven known planets to seven magical squares and related them to the sun.
The jury was unanimous in finding Decoy a very well-made and convincing combination of instruments and live electronics. 'Not only the structure but also the inventive use of blending the electronic and instrumental sounds makes listening to this piece a fascinating and rewarding experience.'


Bas Kalle (1977, Middelburg) studied Sonology at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Apart from composing, he builds digital (inter-)active sound and light objects. He assisted composer Jan Boerman in digitalising his work Kompositie 1979.

''Drieluik' shows a genuine modesty and is tasteful and refined as well. The sounds are reminiscent of those of Jan Boerman and display the same control over the chosen material.'


Federico Schumacher Ratti was born in Santiago/Chile in 1963. He studied composition, electronic and computer music at the University of Chile and in France, where he is now living. He is researching the history of Chilean Electroacoustical Music on a grant by the Chilean government. On the isle of Chiloé in the south of Chile, Minga is a tradition whereby a whole village helps one of its inhabitants with a project he can not manage on his own, like moving a house from one place to another one. This process might take a whole day and always ends with a banquet, cooked by the host for all those who assisted him. 'Minga Sola' tries to evoke the spirit of community effort and joy.
'The work has a brilliant sound quality and bridges the 'old' historical worlds of sound. 'Minga Sola I' is adventurous and well composed.'

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