The Bilbao Gabriel Erkoreka has obtained this Wednesday the National Music Prize 2021 in the composition modality, awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports, endowed with 30,000 euros.
The Catalan Montserrat Torrent, meanwhile, has won the award in the interpretation category.
In the case of Erkoreka, the jury has highlighted the international projection of his music and the “brilliance” of his career as a creator, in addition to “the richness of its compositional language in which the personal fusion of the sonority of traditional Basque instruments stands out” in works such as “Tree” or “Basalt”.
Born in Bilbao in 1969, his music is the reflection of different motivations, such as nature or the need to preserve it, as well as traditional and folk music of various origins, as explained by the Ministry.
That season, the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain dedicate the White Letter to this Bilbao composer with concerts in which his pieces “Fauve” (2004), “Cuatro differences” (1996), “Veni Creator” (2005), are performed. Concerto for cello and orchestra “Ekaitza” (2011) and “Tres Sonetos de Michelangelo” (2009).
Among the recognitions he has received are the Reina Sofía Prize for Musical Composition in 2008, the Prize for Contemporary Musical Composition of the Basque Government in 1999 or the Josiah Parker Prize and other awards at the Royal Academy of Music.
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