# Ernst von Siemens Music Prize

The Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (short: Siemens Music Prize, German: Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis) is an annual music prize given by the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste (Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts) on behalf of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung [de] (Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation), established in 1972. The foundation was established by Ernst von Siemens (1903–1990) and promotes contemporary music. The prize honors a composer, performer, or musicologist who has made a distinguished contribution to the world of music. In addition to the main prize, other prizes are also given. The total prize money given is currently €3.5 million, with the winner of the main prize receiving €250,000. The prize is sometimes known as "the Nobel Prize of music".
Smaller awards are called "Förderpreis" (encouragement award). "Komponisten-Förderpreise" ("Composer Prizes") are given to young composers for one of their works. "Förderprojekte" ("Grant-in-Aid Projects") support music festivals, concerts, musical institutions, and young musicians.

## Main prize winners

Winners of the main prize were:
* 1974 – Benjamin Britten
* 1975 – Olivier Messiaen
* 1976 – Mstislav Rostropovich
* 1977 – Herbert von Karajan
* 1978 – Rudolf Serkin
* 1979 – Pierre Boulez
* 1980 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
* 1981 – Elliott Carter
* 1982 – Gidon Kremer
* 1983 – Witold Lutosławski
* 1984 – Yehudi Menuhin
* 1985 – Andrés Segovia
* 1986 – Karlheinz Stockhausen
* 1987 – Leonard Bernstein
* 1988 – Peter Schreier
* 1989 – Luciano Berio
* 1990 – Hans Werner Henze
* 1991 – Heinz Holliger
* 1992 – H. C. Robbins Landon
* 1993 – György Ligeti
* 1994 – Claudio Abbado
* 1995 – Sir Harrison Birtwistle
* 1996 – Maurizio Pollini
* 1997 – Helmut Lachenmann
* 1998 – György Kurtág
* 1999 – Arditti Quartet
* 2000 – Mauricio Kagel
* 2001 – Reinhold Brinkmann
* 2002 – Nikolaus Harnoncourt
* 2003 – Wolfgang Rihm
* 2004 – Alfred Brendel
* 2005 – Henri Dutilleux
* 2006 – Daniel Barenboim
* 2007 – Brian Ferneyhough
* 2008 – Anne-Sophie Mutter
* 2009 – Klaus Huber
* 2010 – Michael Gielen
* 2011 – Aribert Reimann
* 2012 – Friedrich Cerha
* 2013 – Mariss Jansons
* 2014 – Peter Gülke
* 2015 – Christoph Eschenbach
* 2016 – Per Nørgård
* 2017 – Pierre-Laurent Aimard
* 2018 – Beat Furrer
* 2019 – Rebecca Saunders
* 2020 – Tabea Zimmermann
* 2021 – Georges Aperghis
* 2022 – Olga Neuwirth
* 2023 – Sir George Benjamin
* 2024 – Unsuk Chin
* 2025 – Sir Simon Rattle

## Composer Prize winners

Winners of the Composer Prize (Förderpreis) were:
* 1990 – Michael Jarrell and George Lopez
* 1991 – Herbert Willi
* 1992 – Beat Furrer and Benedict Mason
* 1993 – Sylvia Fomina and Param Vir
* 1994 – Hans-Jürgen von Bose, Marc-André Dalbavie and Luca Francesconi
* 1995 – Gerd Kühr and Philippe Hurel
* 1996 – Volker Nickel and Rebecca Saunders
* 1997 – Moritz Eggert and Mauricio Sotelo
* 1998 – Antoine Bonnet and Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf
* 1999 – Thomas Adès and Olga Neuwirth
* 2000 – Hanspeter Kyburz, Augusta Read Thomas and Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini
* 2001 – Isabel Mundry, André Werner and José María Sánchez-Verdú
* 2002 – Mark Andre, Jan Müller-Wieland and Charlotte Seither
* 2003 – Chaya Czernowin, Christian Jost and Jörg Widmann
* 2004 – Fabien Lévy, Johannes Maria Staud and Enno Poppe
* 2005 – Sebastian Claren, Philipp Maintz and Michel van der Aa
* 2006 – Jens Joneleit, Alexander Muno and Athanasia Tzanou
* 2007 – Vykintas Baltakas and Markus Hechtle
* 2008 – Dieter Ammann, Márton Illés and Wolfram Schurig
* 2009 – Francesco Filidei, Miroslav Srnka and Lin Yang
* 2010 – Pierluigi Billone, Arnulf Herrmann, Oliver Schneller
* 2011 – Steven Daverson, Hèctor Parra, Hans Thomalla
* 2012 – Luke Bedford, Zeynep Gedizlioğlu, Ulrich Alexander Kreppein
* 2013 – David Philip Hefti, Samy Moussa, Marko Nikodijevic
* 2014 – Simone Movio, Brigitta Muntendorf, Luis Codera Puzo
* 2015 – Birke J. Bertelsmeier, Mark Barden, Christian Mason
* 2016 – Milica Djordjevic, David Hudry, Gordon Kampe
* 2017 – Michael Pelzel [ja], Simon Steen-Andersen, Lisa Streich
* 2018 – Clara Iannotta [fr], Timothy McCormack, Oriol Saladrigues
* 2019 – Annesley Black, Ann Cleare, Mithatcan Öcal
* 2020 – Catherine Lamb, Francesca Verunelli, Samir Amarouch
* 2021 – Malte Giesen [de], Mirela Ivičević, Yair Klartag
* 2022 – Benjamin Attahir, Naomi Pinnock, Mikel Urquiza
* 2023 – Sara Glojnarić, Alex Paxton, Eric Wubbels
* 2024 – Yiqing Zhu, Daniele Ghisi, Bára Gísladóttir
* 2025 – Ashkan Behzadi, Bastien David, Kristine Tjøgersen [no]