Füsun Köksal (CRF 2018) has been selected as the recipient of the Mario Merz Prize fourth edition in the Music category. Köksal was selected from a shortlist of composers including Katherine Balch (CRF 2021), William Dougherty (CRF 2022), Farzia Fallah and Claudia Jane Scroccaro.
Köksal was selected via an open public vote, and a jury composed of Helena Winckelman (violinist and composer), Diego Chenna (Professor of Chamber Music at Hochschule für Musik, Freiburg), Thomas Demenga (cellist and composer) and Willy Merz (composer and Orchestra Director).
As recipient of the prize, Köksal will be commissioned to write a piece for string orchestra or for solo instrument and string orchestra as well as a soundtrack for a museum space.
Choosing from the excellent and varied proposals heard in the concert of finalists of the fourth Mario Merz Prize, the music jury decided to award Füsun Köksal’s work with the following motivation:
“In Füsun Köksal’s piece one appreciates an intense and effective dramaturgy combined with a diffused lyricism. The alternation of solos and tutti is masterfully conducted, while the score also demonstrates the composer’s excellent knowledge of instrumental techniques, her overview of the various timbres and their use for poetic purposes. The piece, which develops through violent emotional and sonorous shifts, succeeds in finding an accomplished and evident formal arrangement thanks to the interesting development of the dynamics of the instruments.” Congratulations, Füsun! Learn more about the prize here.
