The ICMA Gala Concert at Tampere Hall with Esa-Pekka Salonen and other international guests

Press release 29 Mar 2011

The 2011 International Classical Music Award winners have been published. The awards will be handed out on April 6^th at Tampere Hall, with a number of the award-winning soloists joining the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra for a special gala concert the same evening. ICMA Artist of the Year Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct his composition Helix for Orchestra in this concert.

Principal Conductor Hannu Lintu will conduct the other works on the concert programme.

The concert features a range of international guest soloists: pianists Menahem Pressler, David Kadouch and Philip Edward Fisher, violinist Lena Neudauer and Finnish pianist Folke Gräsbeck.

ICMA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Menahem Pressler will play movements of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17. Frenchman and ICMA Young Artist of the Year David Kadouch will perform movements of Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and Philip Edward Fisher will be presenting Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1. German violinist Lena Neudauer’s award-winning playing will be heard on Robert Schumann’s Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra, op. 131.

Folke Gräsbeck will perform movements of Sibelius’s Piano Quintet, arranged for piano and string orchestra by the Tampere Philharmonic’s Composer-in-Residence Jouni Kaipainen. Gräsbeck made a central contribution on piano to BIS’s The Sibelius Edition, winner of the ICMA Special Achievement Award.

The ICMA Gala Concert is held in the Main Auditorium of Tampere Hall on Wed April 6^th at 8 pm, broadcast live on the radio by YLE and syndicated in Europe through EBU. The ICMA Gala Concert is a joint production by ICMA, Viva Classica and the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. Tickets 21/15/10 € at the Tampere Hall Box Office and Lippupiste.

ICMA on the move

The ICMAs will be handed out in a private ceremony prior to the public gala concert. The award winners have been picked out of a selection of over 500 classical music CDs and DVDs released last year. The awards are given out in 14 categories. Representing Finland in the jury comprising representatives of European music magazines and media companies is Aarno Cronvall, Programme Director of the classical music Internet radio Viva Classica and a former member of the MIDEM Classical Awards jury.

This is the first year the ICMAs are given out. Created last year, the award replaces the MIDEM Classical Award (previously the Cannes Classical Award). The awards gala will continue to be hosted in a different European venue each year.

For further information please contact:

Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra:

General Manager Maritta Hirvonen, tel. 03 243 4404, 050 582 4174, maritta.hirvonen[at]tampere.fi

Publicity Manager Outi Viitasalo, tel. 03 243 4406, 050 388 7144, outi.viitasalo[at]tampere.fi

ICMA Jury:

Programme Director Aarno Cronvall, tel. 040 5282722, aarno.cronvall[at]vivaclassica.fi