Jakub Hrůša and Bamberg Symphony have been awarded the 2020 Bavarian State Prize for Music. The Bavarian Music Prize is awarded by the Bavarian Ministry of State for Science and Art. It celebrates all areas of music from professional to amateur music.
Bernd Sibler, Bavarian State Minister for Education and Culture says, “Music, singing and making music are deeply rooted in the Bavarian soul. They create identity, preserve tradition and fill the Free State [and beyond its borders] with a colourful potpourri of sounds. …We say thank you for that!”
The awards are selected by an esteemed jury chaired by Munich conductor Alexander Liebreich, the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
The Jury writes: “The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra is an exceptional orchestra. A world-class orchestra that finds its home in a small Bavarian town. And yet the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra is far more than the musical centre of the city and the entire region. They are one of the most touring-friendly orchestras in Germany. The circumstances of its foundation mirror that of German and Bavarian history: In post-war turmoil, former members of the German Philharmonic Orchestra from Prague met fellow musicians in Bamberg and founded the ‘Bamberg Tonkünstler Orchestra’. A short-time later, it was renamed the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. The jury honours the profile of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and appreciates its enormous effect on Bavaria’s culture.”
Hrůša says, “My beloved Bamberg Symphony has just been awarded the Bavarian State Prize for Music. I cannot explain just how much this prize means to us all in the team, at the very moment when we are racking our brains over how to adjust Bamberg’s glorious 75th anniversary season in response to COVID-19. Our aim is that our great audience (awarded the Audience of the Year in Germany this year, too!) will never be disappointed, and I am so much looking forward to being and working in Bamberg again.”