Located in Bavaria near the Austrian border, the Castle of Elmau is well-known in the world of classical music. Since the 1950s, it has become a famous concert hall, due to the renowned quality of its acoustics. Passing through the region, Benjamin Britten discovered it and instantly fell in love with the site and in 1959, with his partner Peter Pears, he founded a British-German Chamber Music festival there. Read More →

The Jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) announced today the Awards for 2014. Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit, 78, is honored with our Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the most eminent fortepianists of our time, Andreas Staier, is ‘Artist of the Year’, the young French viola player Adrien Boisseau is ICMA’s ‘Young Artist of the Year ». In total seven Special Awards are listed, among them the one for the ‘SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden und Freiburg’. Read More →

ICMA Board members Remy Franck and Martin Hoffmeister recently visited the ‘Accademia Pianistica Siciliana’ in Catania (Sicily), the institution where ‘Young Artist of the Year 2013’ Alessandro Mazzamuto comes from. The ICMA representatives were able to meet Prof. Epifanio Comis, the driving force at this Academy as well as several students, who played a concert at the institute which is located in an ancient palace of the central Via Etnea, surrounded by a fascinating view of the city and the beautiful Sicilian landscape. Read More →

Renowned Pianist Menahem Pressler celebrates his 90^th birthday today. Pressler who received ICMA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, is currently in Amsterdam for concerts with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. For his birthday BIS published a marvelous Beethoven-Schubert-Chopin SACD. The plan for this recording was made during the ICMA festivities in Tampere in 2011. The entire Jury says: Happy Birthday, dear Menahem!

The ICMA 2014 nomination list is available. « This list comprises all the initial choices submitted by at least two Jury members and clearly reflects the international character of our Awards. The list comprises 264 CD and DVD releases of a total of 94 labels, up from 86 competing in 2013 », said ICMA President Remy Franck.

To get the list, just click on our Nominations button which will lead you to lists sorted by labels or categories.

The winners will be announced early in 2014.

With 18 nominations, the French label Harmonia Mundi is on the first place, followed by Audite (14), Sony Classical being the third with 12 nominations. The final result with the winners will be published early in 2014. The Award Ceremony and Gala concert will take place during the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw, on the 12^th of April, with the Polish Iuventus Orchestra conducted by José Maria Florêncio.

ICMA Winner Christopher Nupen is looking for partners to produce both a portrait film and a performance film about Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, as Allegro Films has done so effectively with several other top musicians in the past. « Those who join this project will be happy », said Nupen. Read More →