Philip Przybylo wins Tera de Marez Oyens Award 2024 with Meduza

In the award ceremony, the chair of the award committee applauded the original tailored score, handwritten, still very legible and maybe because, being handwritten, a very personal communication with the players. It shows a clear concept and original use of the strings. The composer creates an exciting sound universe, combining acoustic and electronic sounds.

Meduza for low string trio, live electronics, and tape was performed in a beautiful form specially adapted for this occasion by Antek Cholewinski on cello with tape. The composer explained his composition as follows: “The piece Meduza blends industrial noise music with a traditional instrumental concert setting. It focuses on open string harmonics across 12 spectrally-tuned strings, using bows as "exciters" to create resonances between the instruments. The strings are amplified via contact microphones, with sound manipulated live through a mixer, producing fragile feedback loops that are constantly on the edge of chaos. The score is written to prioritize physical gestures over precise pitches, allowing the musicians to play more intuitively.  The title Meduza (Polish for jellyfish) reflects the amorphous, pulsating quality of the music, where the musicians act as parts of a single, flexible organism. The piece has two contrasting movements: the first, Choralvorspiel, is loud and abrasive, while the second, Ombre, incorporates fragments of a French baroque aria over a drone derived from the first movement's noise.” 

Philip Przybyło is a Polish-Canadian composer and producer born in 2000. After studying in Montreal, he moved to Amsterdam for his composition degrees at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. His orchestral works, Sonnet and Penta-Concertino, were performed in Montreal, and his ensemble pieces Ameba, W Klepsydrze, and Meduza premiered in Europe. Recently, he collaborated on a multimedia project, Ekloga - Jest Biel - Ekloga (2024), based on Polish poetry. Philip also produces electronic music under various aliases and co-founded the experimental label Anekumena Tapes, performing across venues in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Warsaw.

The Tera de Marez Oyens foundation was founded in 1998 to encourage composers of contemporary music and to foster the public interest in the musical heritage of composer Tera de Marez Oyens (1932-1996). Since 2009 the Tera de Marez Oyens awards objective is to support recently graduated composition talents. The reward (€2.000) enables the composer to write a new short work that will be premiered in the 2025 Gaudeamus Festival. Former award winners were Rocco Havelaar (2000), Calliope Tsoupaki (2002), Natalia Dominguez Rangel (2009), Christiaan Richter (2011), Georgia Nicolaou en Jan Kuhr (shared second prize in 2016), Remy Alexander (2018) and Soheil Shayesteh (2021). Archief

The 2024 award committee of the Tera de Marez Oyens Prize, chaired by David de Marez Oyens: Fie Schouten (bass clarinetist, artistic director, teacher), Coen Stuit (conductor, artistic director, teacher), Aspasia Nasopoulou (composer, artistic director, curator, teacher) en Jonas Bisquert (composer, programmer, community artist, teacher).

Four compositions nominated for the Tera de Marez Oyens Prize 2024 

During the Gaudeamus Festival 2024 in Utrecht, the Tera de Marez Oyens Prize will be awarded. This prize is dedicated to stimulating recent Dutch graduates in composition and bridging the gap between education and professional practice. The prize consists of a sum of €2,000, earmarked for a new commission for a short composition for a professional ensemble. 

Nominated are the compositions of: (in alphabetical order) 

 Gijs van der Heijden, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag

 Katherine Ching-Fang Teng, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag

 Maarten Bauer,  Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag

 Philip Przybylo, Conservatorium van Amsterdam

These works will be performed during the lunch concert on September 8, 2024 of the Gaudeamus Festival in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, after which the prize winner will be announced. 

Jury of the Tera de Marez Oyens Prize 2024: Fie Schouten (bass clarinetist, artistic director, teacher), Coen Stuit (conductor, artistic director, teacher), Aspasia Nasopoulou (composer, artistic director, curator, teacher) and Jonas Bisquert (composer, programmer, community artist, teacher) Chairman: David de Marez Oyens 

 

 

 

2024 Call for Scores 

The aim of the award

This award is dedicated to stimulating recently graduated composition talent in the Netherlands and bridging the gap between education and professional practice. The reward of €2,000 enables the composer to write a new short composition for a professional ensemble, to be performed during the next Gaudeamus Festival.

Criteria

We are looking for a work (a graduation project or other composition project realized during or shortly after the conservatory studies) that distinguishes itself by quality of composition and score, originality, and feasibility and engages the audience in a story, in its commitment, or atmosphere. There are no restrictions as to musical genre; pieces with electronics or performance elements may also compete for the award.

Who can compete?

All students who completed a BA or MA program at one of the Dutch conservatories in the academic year 2021/22, 2022/23, or 2023/24 and are residents of the Netherlands can compete for the award.

Nomination process

A jury of composers, musicians and professionals from the wider artistic field, presided by David de Marez Oyens, will nominate three or four pieces, which will be performed during the Gaudeamus Festival 2024. After this concert, the award ceremony will take place. The selected composers will be informed of their nomination no later than July 19th.

The Tera de Marez Oyens Award is an incentive award, reaching a relatively large audience due to its collaboration with the Gaudeaumus Festival. When offering your composition, keep in mind that as a composer you are asked to take care of the performance of the piece in question, including the organization of performers (maximum 3). The piece should not exceed 10 minutes, and will take place on a small (chamber music) stage.

Where and when can you apply?

Works and additional documentation materials can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than June 23th, 2024. Please email your motivation and contact information. Please include four attachments:

1: the score (in PDF);

2: (if available) a sound recording, preferably as a web link and otherwise as an MP3;

3: a reflection or explanatory comments on the piece (max 1 A4);

4: a Curriculum Vitae (max 1 A4).

The total package should not exceed 20 MB.

More information

David de Marez Oyens: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.