Vienna received a great honor this year when it hosted the World New Music Days festival along with two other cities – Kosice and Bratislava.
After five decades, the event sponsored by the International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM) returned to it host country Austria.
This particular festival is aimed at recognizing top quality productions of contemporary classical music. ISCM has five member countries all working to promote contemporary music.
Membership is required in the ISCM to be able to participate in the yearly activities. Currently, members include the Australian Music Centre, Canadian League of Composers, Association of Irish Composers, Composers Association of New Zealand, NewMusicUSA, Society for the Promotion of New Music and League of Composers in the U.S.
It was in 1922 when the World New Music Days festival took place in Salzburg, Austria. Some 25 concerts were organized and a new opera entitled Dorian Gray premieed during the festival as well. The opera was composed by a young Slovak named Lubica Cekovska.
This year, the ISCM Young Composer Award went to Yasunoshin Morita of Japan for his work entitled “The History of Songs & Words.” The award was given on November 13 during a ceremony in the Mittlerer Saal of the Urania Observatory in Vienna.
This young composer award for 2013 was given through the partnership between ISCM and Vancouver Canada’s Music on Main that teamed up with the organizer for the first time. Eligible for this specific prize are composers below the age of 35 who have works programmed on the festival.
Next year, the World New Music Days festival will take place in Wroclaw, Poland. By 2017, it will move to Vancouver, Canada.
