Handschin Prize 2020
This year, the Swiss Music Research Society (SMG) is awarding the Handschin Prize for Music Research for the sixth time. The award goes to Laura Decurtins and Rafael Rennicke.
The SMG is awarding the Handschin Prize 2020 to the musicologist Dr. Laura Decurtins (born 1985), who wrote her doctoral thesis entitled "Chantai rumantsch! Zur musikalischen Selbst(er)findung Romanischbündens" at the University of Zurich and to the musicologist Dr. des. Rafael Rennicke (born 1979 in Rottweil), who wrote his dissertation entitled "Erinnerungspoetik. Berlioz and the reception of Ranz des vaches in the 19th century" at the University of Tübingen.
While Laura Decurtins explored the "musical DNA" of Romansh-speaking Graubünden and offers an impressive musical view of Romansh-speaking Graubünden, Rafael Rennicke succeeds in elevating the previous debate about reflections of the "cow herd" in composed music to a new, interdisciplinary and intercultural level in the best sense of the word.
The selection committee, consisting of members of the SMG board, found it particularly difficult this year to choose from 14 very good dissertations and decided to award two excellent theses with a prize of CHF 3000 each. In addition to his academic work, the prizewinner currently works as a music editor at the cultural radio station SWR 2 in Baden-Baden, while the prizewinner works at the Institute for Cultural Research Graubünden (ikg) and is a freelance academic.
This is the sixth time that the Swiss Music Research Society has awarded the prize named after the Moscow-born Swiss musicologist and organist Jacques Handschin (1886-1955), which is awarded to young researchers every two years. The award ceremony will take place on September 17, 2020 as part of the SMG's 1st Study Day in the main building of the University of Bern.
