Saariaho: Composer of the Year 2008

1st December 2007

Musical America has announced it will honor Kaija Saariaho as the 2008 Composer of the Year.

This prestigious award is a tremendous honor for Saariaho, a composer who in the last decade has received worldwide acclaim for her broad-ranging oeuvre — from electro-acoustic and spectral works to chamber music and operas. Saariaho's first opera, L'Amour de loin, was given the Grawemeyer Award in 2003. The Composer of the Year Award not only highlights a considerable recognition for Saariaho's outstanding music, but this award marks an achievement for all female composers — she is the second woman to win this award since its inception in 1992.

Saariaho will receive her award in a special ceremony at Lincoln Center on December 13.