Tonight We Celebrate New Music…

Thus began Music Director Alan Gilbert’s announcement last evening that composers Anthony Cheung, Franck Krawczyk, and (as previously announced) Peter Eötvös would share proceeds of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music at the New York Philharmonic with inaugural recipient Henri Dutilleux, at his request.

Also announced at last night’s all-Dutilleux concert (featuring Yo-Yo Ma and the Miró Quartet): the New York Philharmonic has named Sean Shepherd as the Kravis Emerging Composer. Shepherd, here with Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, is already known to Philharmonic audiences, as Alex Ross notes, “from his vibrant CONTACT! commission, These Particular Circumstances.”

All four composers will pen works to be premiered by the Orchestra in upcoming seasons.

Check out what Philharmonic news had Twitter abuzz this week and what’s on the horizon:

Where in the World Is Alan Gilbert?

… Still in Paris! After an event-filled week, which included the presentation of the inaugural Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music at the New York Philharmonic to Henri Dutilleux, the Music Director leads two concerts this weekend at the famed Salle Pleyel with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He returns to the City of Light with the New York Philharmonic February 6–7 for their upcoming EUROPE / WINTER 2012 tour.

Congratulations again to Henri Dutilleux!

Here’s more pics from yesterday’s Kravis Prize event at Paris’s Plaza Athénée.

Henri Dutilleux with Zarin Mehta at the Plaza Athénée in Paris today, as he accepts the Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music at the New York Philharmonic.

And the Kravis Prize for New Music goes to … Henri Dutilleux

At an event at the Plaza Athénée in Paris today, the inaugural Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music at the Philharmonic was bestowed upon the eminent French composer Henri Dutilleux. On behalf of the committee that selected Mr. Dutilleux, Music Director Alan Gilbert called him, “one of the greatest composers of our time. His music is marked by a remarkable degree of beauty as well as precision, and it is no wonder that it has become an essential part of the modern orchestral repertoire.” The Philharmonic will perform an all-Dutilleux concert with Yo-Yo Ma on June 26. It was also announced that Mr. Dutilleux will share the proceeds of his prize with three other composers, and the first was announced — Peter Eotvos. Stay tuned to learn more!

Stay tuned to our Tumblr feed today and be the first to learn who is the recipient of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music. Can you guess who the prize’s inaugural winner will be?

Hint: C’est magnifique!