Cyrill Schürch honored
In Venice on May 6, the Mario Merz Prize, endowed with 10,000 Swiss francs, was awarded in the music category to the Swiss composer and pianist Cyrill Schürch. The application period for the next award runs until the end of May.
The jury for the music category was made up of Thomas Demenga, Dieter Ammann, Alexander Lonquich and Willy Merz.
Cyrill Schürch was honored for his work Soirée for chamber ensemble. According to the Fondazione Merz, the following qualities led the jury to award the prize to the Lucerne composer, who was born in 1974: "high lyrical sensitivity", "efficiency of instrumental composition and a wise balance between innovation and knowledge of tradition".
In addition to Schürch, Paolo Boggio (Vercelli 1964), Arturo Corrales (El Salvador 1973), Vassos Nicolaou (Cyprus 1971) and Vito Zuraj (Maribor 1979) were also nominated for the prize.
The Egyptian artist Wael Shawky was awarded 1st prize in the art category.
The Fondazione Merz in Turin has been managing the estate of the artist Mario Merz since 2005. Awarded every two years, the Mario Merz Prize recognizes talent in the field of contemporary visual art and music composition. It aims to create a new artistic network between Switzerland and Italy through exhibitions and music initiatives.
The registration deadline for the second round is June 1, 2015 at midnight.
