Prizes awarded to Hedi Young, Antonio Gaggiano and Hortense Airault

The Chinese percussionist Hedi Young, the Italian percussionist Antonio Gaggiano and the French cellist and composer Hortense Airault have been honored with the Fritz Gerber Award 2025 (the SMZ has reported). The prizes are endowed with 10,000 Swiss francs each and also enable participation in the Lucerne Festival Academy. The certificates were presented on August 24 at the Lucerne Festival by Regula Gerber, Vice President of the Fritz Gerber Foundation and former director of the theaters in Bielefeld and Mannheim.

At the award ceremony, the three winners, who have also studied or are still studying at Swiss music academies, presented themselves with exposed works of modernism: with Spins and Spells for cello solo by Kaija Saariaho, with a four-part etude for marimba solo by Pius Cheung and with Clash Music for a pair of cymbals by Nicolaus A. Huber.

Established in 2015, the Fritz Gerber Award is presented annually to three highly talented young musicians. It is closely linked to the Lucerne Festival and focuses exclusively on the interpretation of contemporary works. This year's jurors were Michael Haefliger and Heinz Holliger.