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.
Producer
Ute Kleeberg
A quarter of a century ago, the pop-musicalization of the world had progressed so far that hardly any songs were sung in kindergartens anymore, but they were sung in casting shows instead. New words were needed, and there was talk of »Education«. Ute Kleeberg stepped into this tricky situation with a revolutionary idea: she told the children old fairy tales again. And at the points where a window could be opened into the realm of the imagination, she played them all kinds of rare, romantic chamber music pieces. Together with her husband, the clarinetist Uwe Stoffel, she founded the Edition See-Igel. More than forty children’s audiobooks have been produced since then, with first-class narrators and enchanting music, professionally recorded, all of the finest quality. Some of the stories invented by Ute Kleeberg herself have long since become classics, such as »Sternenstaub« (1995). Others she brings back out of obscurity, or she carefully rewrites familiar stories, such as »Das tapfere Schneiderlein« (2020). Language and music intertwine so easily and naturally, as though it was the simplest thing in the world. Often these stories were awarded. Now, finally: the PdSK Honorary Award for the entire edition. For the annual committee: Eleonore Büning
Since it is not yet possible to foresee when we will finally be able to celebrate and honor our award winner live, the official laudatio for Ute Kleeberg is being read on YouTube.
The certificate of honour was presented on 18th November 2021 at her hometown Reutlingen.
Jazz, Rock, Pop
Nils Wogram
Nils Wogram is a singular phenomenon among the jazz musicians of his generation – as a virtuoso, composer, and bandleader. His quartet »Root ‚70«, with its defiant journey within and beyond the jazz tradition, is considered one of the most stylistically variable, influential formations of contemporary European jazz, as the recent Anniversary Box impressively documented – on Wogram’s own label. He has also appeared in other arrangements, for example, collaborating as a bandleader in the Nostalgia Trio and the Vertigo Trombone Quartet, and playing, in an impressive series of duo collaborations, with trombonist Konrad Bauer, pianist Simon Nabatov and guitarist Helmut »Joe« Sachse. The time granted to him by canceled concerts he has used to record the trombone solo project »Bright Lights«, which demonstrates his technical virtuosity and his sovereign maturity as a composer. For the annual committee: Hans-Jürgen Linke
Since it is not yet possible to foresee when we will finally be able to celebrate and honor our award winner live, the official laudatio for Nils Wogram is being read on YouTube.
The certificate of honour was presented on 25th September 2021 at the Campus Jazz Festival in Leipzig.
Classical Music
Max Emanuel Cenčić
Usually, this Honorary Award is given to a single classical artist for their »life’s work«. In the case of Max Emanuel Cenčić, a native of Croatia who has long since settled in Vienna with a second home in Madrid, it seems to be a matter of multiple personalities. Already at age six, he thrilled as a radiantly powerful boy soprano with the aria of the Queen of the Night. After an intermezzo with the Vienna Boys’ Choir – he even sang in George Solti’s »Magic Flute« – he became a soprano and later a countertenor who impresses with his extroverted personality in the most challenging roles. Just the same on many CDs, which he organized himself from the very beginning. He is also: director, record producer, agency owner, impresario – and recently artistic director of the festival »Bayreuth Baroque«, which vitalizes the glamorously restored Margravial Opera House with da capo arias. Again Max Emanuel Cenčić surprises with excellence and innovation. An award for all Cenčićs is more than justified! For the annual committee: Manuel Brug
Since it is not yet possible to foresee when we will finally be able to celebrate and honor our award winner live, the official laudatio for Max Emanuel Cenčić is being read on YouTube.
The certificate of honour was presented on 5th September 2021 as part of a the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival.