The Russolo Prize is a musical award for electroacoustic composition, created in 1979 in homage to the Italian painter and composer Luigi Russolo, founder of noise music.
The prize, which is actually called Concorso internazionale Luigi Russolo di musica elettroacustica, is organised and awarded by the Russolo-Pratella Foundation1 in Varese, Italy, and directed by Gian Franco Maffina and Rossana Maggia2. After a few years of pause, the prize is again organised since 2010 by the Bruit de la neige in Annecy (France). The Russolo Prize has an international steering committee.
Categories
The Russolo Prize was originally intended for young composers of electroacoustic and electronic music. When it was created in 1979 there was only one category (electroacoustic music) with a first, second and third prize. Since 1993 the Prize has offered three categories: electronic music alone, music for electronics and instrument(s) or voice (mixed music), and radio music. Since 2017, the Russolo Prize has been awarded solely by the audience of several concerts around the world.
Jury
The first jury, in 1979, was composed of : Pietro Grossi, François Bayle, Carlo Piccardi, Gottfried Michael Koenig, Carlo Ferrario, Pierre Schaeffer, et Gian Franco Maffina.
Subsequent juries consisted of : Klaus Ager (A), François Bayle (F), Berndt R. Berndtson (SW), Michele Biasutti (I), Philippe Blanchard (F), Christian Calon (CND), Luis de Pablo (E), Antonio De Santis (I), Giuseppe Di Giugno (I), Roberto Dikmann (CH), Tsvetan Dobrev (BG), Denis Dufour (F), Juraj Duris (SK), Luigi Finarelli (I), Carlo Ferrario (I), Gian Felice Fugazza (I), Pietro Grossi (I), Gottfried Michael Koenig (NL), Igor Lintz-Maués (A), Tod Machover (USA), Angelo Paccagnini (I), Bernard Parmegiani (F), Carlo Pessina (I), Carlo Piccardi (CH), Ubaldo Polonio (I), Terresa Rampazzi (I), Michel Redolfi (F), Pierre Schaeffer (F), Richard Szeremeta (PL), Alvise Vidolin (I), Rossana Maggia (I).
In 2010, the new jury met in Faverges and was composed of : Jean-Louis Belmonte (F), Philippe Blanchard (F), Guillaume Caillot (F), Paul Clouvel (F), Pierre Coppier (F), Bernard Donzel-Gargand (F), Juraj Duris (SL), Pierre Jolivet (FR/IRL), Pierre Launay (F), Victor Nubla (E), Dmitry Vasilyev (R).
Current organization
Board members: Philippe Blanchard (CEO), Jan Kruml (CEO Deputy), Jean-Louis Belmonte (CFO), Gabin Noir (Adviser). Responsible area, Jury committee Selection : Víctor Aguado Machuca (Spain), Juraj Duris (Slovaquia), Jan Kruml (East Europe), Pierre Jolivet (UK), Lea Tania lo Cicero (Suisse), Hayashi Kyohei (Japon), Nicolas Malevitsis (Greece), Paulo Raposo (Portugal), Dante Tanzi (Italia), Alexandre Yterce (Paris), Fernando Fadigas (Portugal), Peter Nelson, Pete Stollery (Scotland), Julie Semoroz (Suisse), Olivier Falcou (France), Vincent Laubeuf (France).
Publications
Since 1995, the prize has been the subject of an ongoing record production. These CDs were first published by the Fondazione Russolo-Pratella in Italy14,15 and then, when the competition moved from the city of Varese (Italy) to Annecy (France), by Studio Forum / Bruit de la neige in France16,17.
The Russolo / Bruit de la neige Prize translated into French and published Luigi Russolo’s last book Beyond Matter, 1938
