Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music has awarded Steve Reich its $100,000 Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition, given in alternate years to composers who “show the highest-level of achievement in a substantial and continuing body of work.” Reich will serve two residencies at the Bienen School in February and November of 2017, where there will be three concerts of his music and he will coach student ensembles, work with student composers, and participate in group discussions. Reich, who will turn 80 this October, is also the Carnegie Hall Debs Composer’s Chair for the 2016–17 season and is the focus of concerts at the Barbican Center and Lincoln Center Festival during the season. Previous recipients of the Nemmers Prize, inaugurated in 2004, include John Adams, Oliver Knussen, Kaija Saariaho, John Luther Adams, Aaron Jay Kernis, and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Posted June 3, 2016
Steve Reich photo by Wonge Bergmann