The jury, whose decision was announced on 2 December, praised the London composer's installation work for its balance between space and sonic geography. Invisible Threads changes the usual perception of music by inviting the audience to wander through the performance space during the 70-minute performance with a spatially shifting ensemble of twelve musicians.
Christian Mason's award-winning work, which was premiered at the Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik by Gareth Davis, Krassimir Sterev, the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart and the Arditti String Quartet, is based on texts by Paul Griffiths. “In its duration, instrumentation, and musical aesthetic, Invisible Threads challenges its listeners even as it speaks to a broad audience in a musically passionate and artistic way,” said Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition Director Matthew Ertz, music librarian and associate professor at the University of Louisville’s Anderson Music Library. “This ‘performance installation’ invites attendees to choose the way they encounter this work, enabling each to have a different experience, even as all enjoy this breathtaking music anew.”
The Grawemeyer Prize for Music Composition has been awarded annually since 1985. Among the renowned prizewinners to whom Christian Mason feels close are György Ligeti, Harrison Birtwistle, Pierre Boulez, Kaija Saariaho, Unsuk Chin and Julian Anderson. The Grawemeyer Awards are presented in the fields of music composition, education, religion, psychology, and world order and are endowed with 100,000 US dollars each. Business executive and family man H. Charles Grawemeyer established the awards in 1984 at the University of Louisville in collaboration with the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
“I’m profoundly grateful to join the company of Grawemeyer awardees,” said Christian Mason. “This recognition of Invisible Threads encourages me to dig even more deeply into long-held dreams and visions.”
Christian Mason will accept his award at a ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky on 10 April 2025.
grawemeyer.org
