Kazakh composer receives award from Austrian president

A talented composer from Kazakhstan who conquered the world won the Theodor Korner Prize. Sergey Kim received this Austrian award in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. He submitted a 40-minute original play to a competition. One of the terms was that the work submitted must not be finished and had to be completed during the competition. This prize has been awarded every year since 1954. Theodor Korner founded it during his presidency to support talented youth. The President of Austria has been awarding the prestigious prize personally for almost fifty years.

“First, this prize is designed for young musicians up to 35 years old. An application submission is announced a year before the awarding ceremony. Second, composers have to send their newly written plays, which are not finished. That is one of the criteria. They must be completed as part of the competition by the time the prize is awarded. The second term is that the play must contain elements of Austrian art,” Kim said.

The prizewinners were supposed to be announced at the end of last year. But the awarding ceremony was postponed until mid-2022 due to the coronavirus outbreak.