Home News Maria João Pires Honoured with Prestigious Praemium Imperiale Award
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Maria João Pires Honoured with Prestigious Praemium Imperiale Award

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The Portuguese pianist has received this year’s Praemium Imperiale Award for Music. The accolade, valued at 15 million Yen (about £73,000), is presented annually by the Japan Art Association, under the honorary patronage of HIH Prince Hitachi, the younger brother of the Emperor Emeritus of Japan. Together with awards in architecture, painting, theatre, film, and sculpture, the Praemium Imperiale recognises outstanding achievements in fields not covered by the Nobel Prizes.

Pires joins a distinguished group of previous awardees in music, such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Riccardo Muti, Arvo Pärt, Mitsuko Uchida, Martha Argerich, Yo-Yo Ma, Krystian Zimerman, and Winton Marsalis, who received the honour last year.

In a video accompanying the announcement, Pires discussed an essential element of musical creativity, imagination: ‘We all have imagination, but many people are afraid of imagination because imagination also means change. We change every minute, every hour, every day. Our life is change. But we are afraid of change. And this fear keeps our imagination a little bit as a prisoner – like in prison. We have it but we don’t develop. We don’t allow ourselves to break. And it’s not only breaking the rules because breaking the rules is sometimes bad for others – so it’s not good for us either. Breaking the rules is not something 100 per cent positive – it can be even very negative if it damages other people. But imagination, if it doesn’t damage anybody is always 100 per cent positive because with imagination you find a real life, you find real source of inspiration. You find the real source of love – in the real sense.’

The other recipients this year are Shigeru Ban (architecture), Sophie Calle (painting), Ang Lee (theatre and film), and Doris Salcedo (sculpture).

The awards were announced by Lord Patten, Praemium Imperiale’s International Advisor in the UK, who commented: ‘All five Laureates of the 2024 Praemium Imperiale awards have taken their land and people as inspiration to create works of profound poetry and impact.’

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