Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla becomes ZHdK "Companion"
Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) is creating two honorary titles. One of these new titles will be awarded for the first time today as part of the ZHdK's University Day: the chief conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and ZHdK alumna Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla will be honored.
The ZHdK awards the honorary titles "Honorary Companion" for many years of service and "Companion" for outstanding achievements at a young age to personalities "who have rendered outstanding services to the interests of the university or have already achieved extraordinary things at a young age".
The first "Companion" will be awarded by the ZHdK as part of its University Day, which is being held under the motto "Leadership in the Arts". It honors the conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, who was appointed chief conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra last year at the age of not yet thirty. She completed her conducting studies at the ZHdK in 2015 under conductor and lecturer Johannes Schlaefli.
A maximum of one "Companion" and one "Honorary Companion" will be awarded each year. According to Rector Thomas D. Meier, the ZHdK intends to award the first Honorary Companion in 2018.
