New York Serb wins richest composer prize

The 2024 Grawemeyer award in music composition, worth $100,000, has gone to Aleksandra Vrebalov for ‘Missa Supratext,’ a 22-minute work for string quartet and girls’ chorus premiered by Kronos.

Verbalov, 53, has lived in the US since 1995 and and has written 15 works for Kronos since 1997. She has more than 100 published scores.

She said: ‘Missa Supratext is unrelated to any religion … The words are made up and have no meaning. The piece goes beyond verbal narrative to show how all life on our planet is interconnected.’

Recent winners of the Grawemeyer include Olga Neuwirth and Julian Anderson. The first winners, in 1985-86, were Lutoslawski and Ligeti.

Verbalov’s reaction: ‘I am so very grateful to receive this amazing international heritage award! I cheer to my collaborators Kronos Quartet for commissioning and performing Missa Supratext, to San Francisco Girls’ Chorus with Valerie Sainte-Agathe and David Coulter improvising on a musical saw for the exuberant, fearless spirit they brought to the winning work.’