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Press Release # 1/2005 POLAR MUSIC PRIZE 2005, MONDAY 23RD MAY The POLAR MUSIC PRIZE was presented on Monday, 23rd May, for the fourteenth year in succession. The prizewinners were the German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (who was unable to attend and therefore represented in Stockholm by his nephew Dr. Thomas Fischer-Dieskau) and the Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil. The prize-giving ceremony took place in the Stockholm Concert Hall. The subsequent banquet and party was being held in the Winter Garden at Grand Hôtel and Berns in Stockholm respectively. Each prizewinner received prize money in the amount of one million Swedish kronor. His Majesty The King of Sweden awarded the prizes during a nationally-televised (TV4) ceremony which took place at the Stockholm Concert Hall. The subsequent banquet and AfterParty were held at the Winter Garden, Grand Hôtel and Berns. The guests at the banquet were served Assorted plate with specialities of Sweden as a first course, Lemon fried saddle of lamb with haricot verts and thyme gravy as main course and for dessert Strawberries with vanilla ice cream. Gilberto Gil gave a very much appreciated acoustic perfomance. Her Majesty The Queen, HRH Crown Princess Victoria, HRH Princess Lilian, Minister for Education and Culture Leif Pagrotsky, ambassadors Margareta Winberg and Carl Tham, Germany’s and Brazil’s ambassadors to Stockholm and County Governor Mats Hellström were attending the festivities together with representatives from the world of culture. A specially edited version of the ceremony and banquet for internet can be viewed here. The Polar Music Prize, which was inaugurated by Stikkan Anderson 1989 with a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, is one of the world’s most unique and prestigious musical prizes. The prize must, without any national restrictions, "be awarded for significant achievements in music and/or musical life, or for achievements which are believed to be of great potential importance for the advancement of music and/or musical life and shall cover all fields within music or be closely connected with it." A new feature this year was the TV broadcast from both the prize-giving ceremony in the Concert Hall and from the subsequent banquet at Grand Hôtel. In a studio in Grand Hôtel Rickard Sjöberg was interviewing Gilberto Gil and Jimmy Cliff, speakers who explain the reasons behind the awards and other exciting guests. Those involved during the prize-giving ceremony in the Concert Hall was: Lisa Nilsson, Håkan Hellström, Håkan Hagegård, Hillevi Martinpelto, Simone Moreno, Os Lourinhos and the Royal Swedish Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of head conductor Alan Gilbert. The hosts for the programme were Petra Nordlund and Rickard Sjöberg. Lisa Nilsson and Simone Moreno, together with Os Lourinhos, performed "Aquele Abraço" ("That embrace"), written by Gilberto Gil, Håkan Hellström sang "Vamos Fugir" ("Let us flee") by Gilberto Gil, Håkan Hagegård paid tribute to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with "Deh, Vieni a la Finestra" from Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni and Hillevi Martinpelto sang "Morgen!" by Richard Strauss. The Royal Swedish Philharmonic Orchestra played "German Dance" from Beethovens 12 German Dances and fourth movement from Schubert’s third symphony under the direction of Alan Gilbert. The prize-giving ceremony ended with Lisa Nilsson, Simone Moreno, Håkan Hellström and Os Lourinhos performing the medley "Colors of Brazil". Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff read the tribute to Gilberto Gil and Håkan Hagegård read the tribute to Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau. The Polar Music Prize AfterParty also saw live entertainment with performances from Brazilian singer Simone Moreno and Os Lourinhos. Gilberto Gil will appear in a special television retrospective on Thursday 26 May at 23:20, which will include a recording made at the Jazz Festival in Copenhagen in summer 1985, when Gilberto Gil appeared with his band. The programme starts with a newly recorded interview with Gilberto Gil. A week of activities was arranged in connection with the presentations. This music festival is the realisation of donor Stikkan Anderson’s vision that the prize should be a festival of music where the general public can experience the deeper qualities of the prizewinners. Publicity photos and other press material can also be downloaded here. Previous Prizewinners 1992 Sir Paul McCartney och de baltiska staterna 1993 Dizzy Gillespie och Witold Lutoslawski 1994 Nikolaus Harnoncourt och Quincy Jones 1995 Sir Elton John och Mstislav Rostropovitch 1996 Pierre Boulez och Joni Mitchell 1997 Eric Ericson och Bruce Springsteen 1998 Ray Charles och Ravi Shankar 1999 Stevie Wonder och Iannis Xenakis 2000 Bob Dylan och Isaac Stern 2001 Burt Bacharach, Robert Moog och Karlheinz Stockhausen 2002 Sofia Gubaidulina och Miriam Makeba 2003 Keith Jarrett 2004 B.B. King och György Ligeti Main sponsors:  |
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Polar Music Prize, PO Box 27327, SE-102 54 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN | Phone: +46 8 629 53 38 | E-mail: info@polarmusicprize.com | |
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Copyright © 1992-2008 Polar Music Prize. All rights reserved. The music on this web site has been made available with the due permission of STIM/NCB. Updated: 05/14/2008 | E-mail: webmaster@polarmusicprize.com | |