Honorary Awards

The annual committee of the PdSK awards Honorary Awards in the form of certificates to outstanding personalities who, as interpreters, artists, or producers, have made a noteworthy contribution to the recording of music on audio and video mediums.

Classical Music

Hervé Niquet  © Julien Mignot
© Julien Mignot

Hervé Niquet

His recordings of baroque stage works have long been a must-have for every CD and DVD collection. But Hervé Niquet is so much more than just an early music specialist of the second generation. As a conductor, singer, harpsichordist, organist, festival director, and long-time director of the »Le Concert Spirituel« ensemble, he consistently achieves the extraordinary when it comes to rediscovering lost treasures. As a committed musician and man of the theater, he also knows how to stir up the audience in Henry Purcell’s »King Arthur« with a couplet à la Offenbach, and as an encyclopedist with a penchant for French, he explores significant repertoire beyond the mainstream. These include grands motets from Lully to Campra and Charpentier to Rameau as well as orchestral music by Prix de Rome winners such as Gounod, Dukas, and Debussy, which he records in collaboration with the Palazzetto Bru Zane music centre for Belgian Radio. Hervé Niquet has opened up entirely new European sound spaces for the great French music tradition. For the annual committee: Max Nyffeler

Jazz, Rock, Pop

Klaus Voormann  © Jörg Steinmetz
© Jörg Steinmetz

Klaus Voormann

He studied graphic design but wrote music history not just with the cover art for the Beatles album »Revolver« – for which he received a Grammy in 1967. He also worked as a graphic designer for Bee Gees, Paul McCartney, the Norwegian death punks Turbonegro and the German band Fool’s Garden. As a bassist, he first played in the band of Manfred Mann in the 1960s and was soon in demand as a studio musician, contributing to productions by John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Lou Reed, Randy Newman, Nilsson, BB King, and more. As a producer, he was responsible for the world hit »Da Da Da« by Trio and worked with artists such as Marius Müller-Westernhagen and Heinz Rudolf Kunze. His first solo album was released in 2009 when Klaus Voormann was 71 years old. The title »A Sideman’s Journey« refers to, in his usual modest manner, the role of guest musician that he played on the various projects of his artist friends. Klaus Voormann embodies the reliable buddy who rarely pushes himself into the foreground but who – thanks to his art – is uniquely indispensable. He always remains grounded and incorruptible, an exceptional personality in the world of pop music. For the annual committee: Manfred Gillig-Degrave

The certificate of honour was presented on the 10th May 2019 at the High End Fair of Munich.

Producer

Eva Mair-Holmes  © Stefanie Giesder
© Stefanie Giesder

Eva Mair-Holmes

If in 2018 a hip and local compilation appears with the Bavarian capital Munich as its focus, one shouldn’t be worried: everything that the Trikont label published bears witness to cosmopolitan outlook and local pride alike. Internationalism is paired with Roots-research and makes Trikonts range grow with each new publication into a liberal world cultural heritage in a class of its own. Eva Mair-Holmes runs the publishing house and music label, the company being a continuation of what began as a collective in the sixties, after her partner and husband Achim Bergmann died in March in 2018. With conviction, fearlessness, and experience, she guarantees the preservation of an influential assortment between the Bavarian Alm and Caribbean beaches, between the mining of historical gold and contemporary innovation, documented on numerous compilation albums that are among the highlights of editorial publishing work. Trikont is one of the oldest indie labels in the world, the company motto »Our own Voice« a beacon of German music culture. For its quality and continued existence stands Eva Mair-Holmes. For the annual committee: Christine Heise

The certificate of honour was presented on the 10th May 2019 at the High End Fair of Munich.

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