Alex Paxton ist Träger des Claussen-Simon-Kompositionspreises 2023
The 2023 Claussen-Simon Composition Prize has been awarded to Alex Paxton. A new orchestral work by the British composer premiered in spring 2025 as part of the “Elbphilharmonie Visions” festival, performed by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under the direction of Alan Gilbert.
A distinguished jury chaired by Alan Gilbert selected the winner from a pool of 150 anonymously submitted sketches. Following an initial pre-selection, four finalists were invited to a reading session during which they had the opportunity to work with the orchestra. The final decision was made based on this live collaboration. In addition to prizewinner Alex Paxton, the invited finalists were composers Reika Hattori, Hristina Šušak, and Tomoya Yokokawa.
The jury particularly praised Paxton’s distinctive and vividly colorful compositional voice, which stands out clearly from other aesthetic currents in contemporary music. Among the jury members was Swedish composer Lisa Streich, the first recipient of the Claussen-Simon Composition Prize, whose work "Flügel" was enthusiastically received by both audience and critics at this year’s edition of “Elbphilharmonie Visions.”
Additional members of the jury included composers Matthias Pintscher, Prof. Dr. Reinhard Flender, and Prof. Fredrik Schwenk from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.
