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.
Jazz, Rock, Pop
Heinz Sauer
Saxophonist of profound poetry – Honorary Award 2023 of the PdSK for Heinz Sauer (*1932)
Heinz Sauer is resolutely unflappable. His sound oscillates between rough, hoarse, earthy and breathy, emphatic and strong. The tenor saxophonist and composer from Merseburg lets his instrument rebel, shrill and screaming, then embraces the music, tender and deeply felt. Role models interest him only marginally. He has spent a lifetime learning from the sound itself, from 1960 to 1978, for example, in the bands of Albert Mangelsdorff, and as a member of the Jazz Ensemble of the Hessischer Rundfunk, but also with numerous projects of his own such as the group »Voices«, or in later years in a duo with the pianist Michael Wollny. Heinz Sauer’s music is stylistically self-sufficient. It follows an expressivity of contrast, whimsically humorous and thoughtfully penetrating; it works through the balance of extremes. From this basis, Heinz Sauer has developed into one of the most independent musicians in the German and European jazz world. A master of intensity, a saxophonist of profound poetic power. For the annual committee: Ralf Dombrowski
Classical Music
Kevin Bowyer
Master and Servant of the Organ – Honorary Award 2023 of the PdSK for Kevin Bowyer (*1961)
Of course, you can also hear Kevin Bowyer with wonderful interpretations of Bach or Brahms. And enjoy how the organist analyses the pieces precisely, but always keeps an eye on what is beyond the notes. The term spirituality may sound a little hackneyed, but with Bowyer it is hard to resist. In his hands, the organ is a powerful transformer of emotions, colours, forms and transcendental experiences; Kevin Bowyer is always both master and servant of his instrument. He is also, and above all, interested in transgressing boundaries. One example is the almost unplayable work of Kaikhosru Sorabji, whose second organ symphony lasts around eight hours and makes the highest technical demands. Bowyer manages this effortlessly and only with mini breaks; how exactly he does it remains as mysterious as some of Sorabji’s sound figures. A loud, resounding cheer for the most upbeat and stimulating organist of our time! For the annual committee: Jörn Florian Fuchs
Spoken Word & Verbal Art
Klaus Sander
Publisher of Enthusiastic Complete Works of Art – Honorary Award 2023 of the PdSK for Klaus Sander (*1968)
Leafing through the catalogue of Klaus Sander’s supposé publishing house, one would like to order everything immediately – and above all, listen to it all! The philosopher Dieter Henrich tells his life as an intimate and highly reflective journey through spaces of memory and thought. André Wiersig talks about his pleasure and suffering as a fanatical open-water swimmer for whom no ocean is too deep or too cold. But Sander also offers us intimate stories from St. Pauli, highly complex media theory, Albert Einstein in the original sound and so much more. Each CD production (yes, Klaus Sander still believes in this medium!) is dramaturgically finely thoughtout, the booklets are beautifully designed. supposé productions are not mere products, but complete works of art which have accompanied enthusiasts for decades. One eagerly awaits the next masterpiece – and the one after that… For the annual committee: Jörn Florian Fuchs