There isn't much excitement when this year's Léonie Sonning Music Prize is awarded in the Concert Hall in DR-Byen. For months, it has been known that the award will go to the Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos. So there will be no opening an envelope with his name on it, as we know from several other award ceremonies.
The recipients of the award are always big international names. Whether they are soloists, conductors or composers. Busy people with their calendars filled far into the future. And since the rules state that it is a condition of receiving the award that the recipient performs a concert in a Danish concert hall, it is necessary to find out perhaps 2-3 years in advance who will receive the award and make sure that they agree to the conditions.
And since the concert programmes are published well in advance, all readers of the DR Symphony Orchestra's programme have been able to find out who this year's award winner is and what he will be playing for the occasion for months.
A board of six members is responsible for the selection. One of the members is from Norway, the rest are Danish. One member is the foundation's administrator, who is a lawyer, otherwise the other members are professionals in the field of music. The chairman is DR P2's Esben Tange.
In addition to long-term planning with the award recipient, the board also aims to have different sides of classical music represented and to strike an appropriate mix of the traditional and the forward-looking.
Esben Tange mentions Martin Fröst, Swedish clarinettist, as an example from recent years:
Obviously, you need to master your instrument to perfection, but you need to do more than that. You have to set yourself apart from the other talented ones.
Or the 2015 winner, English composer and pianist Thomas Adès, who for 20 years has moved effortlessly through different genres, connecting the new with the old
The board spends a lot of time looking for the right person. Typically, each of the board members comes up with a list of names, and they always end up reaching a consensus after reviewing the artistic level
Last year, conductor Herbert Blomstedt received his award for getting better and better artistically every year. And that's saying something for a man who turns 90 this summer.
He receives the award for his artistic achievements, not for what he has done for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra," says Esben Tange. He adds that making the award recipients even better known to Danish audiences is a goal in itself.
The first prize was awarded in 1959 to Igor Stravinsky. Over the years, four Danes have received the prestigious honour. Mogens Wøldike - the renowned founder of the Copenhagen Boys' Choir - was the first in 1976. At the time, the prize was DKK 65,000. Composer Per Nørgård received it 20 years later. In 2000, flautist Michala Petri received DKK 400,000 and harpsichord player Lars Ulrik Mortensen received DKK 600,000 in 2007. As of last year, the amount has increased to €100,000.
The award recipients are some of the most famous people in the world of music. Bernstein, Solti, Boulez, Birgit Nilsson, Anne Sophie Mutter, Fischer-Dieskau, Barenboim and Kubelik to name but a few. You can see all the award winners at http://www.sonningmusik.dk/prismodtagere.
It's probably true for most of the recipients that they don't say yes for the money, even if it's a big prize. But when they see the list of previous recipients - it means something to them and no one has said no thanks," explains Esben Tange.
And just for the record. What we are talking about is the Léonie Sonning Music Foundation. Not the Sonning Prize, which is awarded by the Sonning Foundation. It has nothing to do with the music prize and is administered by the University of Copenhagen. It was first awarded in 1950 to Winston Churchill. Among the few Danes who have received the award are Niels Bohr and architect Jørn Utzon.
In addition to the Music Prize, the Board of the Léonie Sonning Foundation also selects the recipients of a number of scholarships for promising young Nordic conductors, musicians, singers or composers. The scholarships are not open to applications.
The money for the music prize and scholarships comes from profits from the three properties owned by the widow of editor Carl Johan Sonning, which have since been supplemented with two more properties.