Mexican wins 60k Swiss prize
mainVíctor Ibarra, 38, has won the first Basel Composition Competition, chaired by Georg Friedrich Haas with a prize of 60,000 Swiss francs.
Haas cited the ‘exciting harmonic world’ invented by Ibarra. The award commemorates the new-music maecenas Paul Sacher.
Second prize (SFr25,000) went to the Itaiian Pasquale Corrado, third prize (SFr15,000) was awarded to South Hannah Hanbiel Choi from South Korea.
Interview here.
For who may be suffering from some doubts about Mr Haas’ understanding of ‘exciting harmonic worlds’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vr8vM9HtIY
But let us not forget the 2nd and 3rd prize:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtLZxiPx9zo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ycXyG-YtM
As we know, the Best new music is the music which best expresses contemporary concerns, which best reflects time and place in which we live. I think things are not so good in Mexico and Italy, but in S-Korea they seem to slightly better, either because it is a more friendy place or because the female ear and eye are less inhumane.