This is the ninth time that the ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustic together with the SWR Experimentalstudio has awarded the Giga-Hertz Award for Electronic Music.

From approx. 80 international submissions, the jury, consisting of Atau Tanaka (artist and developer at Goldsmiths College, London), Björn Gottstein (musicologist and Artistic Director of the Donaueschingen Music Festival), Ludger Brümmer (Head of ZKM | Music and Acoustics Institute), Detlef Heusinger (Artistic Director of the SWR Experimantalstudio) and Peter Weibel (Executive of ZKM | Karlsruhe), nominated two outstanding pieces for this. The two international Giga-Hertz Production Prizes, each awarded €5,000, focus on composers of electronic and acousmatic music and serve to initiate and promote new projects. This year, the range of subjects relating to sensor technology was given particular attention during the selection process. An Honorary Mention is also a special feature. The jury awarded this to an additional piece for the first time this year.

The Giga-Hertz Award for Electronic Music is being awarded to Curtis Roads this year. Curtis Roads is considered one of the most influential composers in the electro-acoustic genre and has aesthetically and theoretically developed granular synthesis in his compositions. Just as impressive as his compositions are his published oeuvre: Curtis Roads has published both »The Computer Music Tutorial« (1996) and the book »Microsound« (2001). His last publication »Composing Electronic Music« (2015) is subtitled as »A New Aesthetic«, with which he highlights the current demand of this medium. His creativity has led him to almost every important studio, including the MIT, IRCAM, Les Ateliers UPIC and the CREATE in Santa Barbara, at which he currently works.

Giga-Hertz Awards for Production 2016 and Honorary Mention: The Production Awards are awarded to Elvira Garifzyanova with her »ARCANE-II« piece for four flutes, four Paetzold flutes and live electronics and to Huihui Cheng for »Me Du Ça« for vocal and live electronics. For his interactive, audio-visual piece »The Fuck Facebook Face Orchestra« for four performers, Daniel Zea Gomez receives an Honorary Mention. The piece can be heard and seen following the award ceremony.

Jury

Ludger Brümmer (Composer, Head of ZKM | Hertz-Lab)
Björn Gottstein (SWR2 editor for New Music and artistic director of the Donaueschinger Musiktage)
Detlef Heusinger (Artistic Director of the SWR Experimentalstudio)
Atau Tanaka (Professor at Goldsmiths University London)
Peter Weibel (Artistic Director of ZKM | Karlsruhe)