Youssou N'Dour and Kaija Saariaho Awarded The Polar Music Prize 2013

Youssou N'Dour and Kaija Saariaho Awarded The Polar Music Prize 2013

STOCKHOLM, August 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --





The Senegalese artist Youssou N'Dour and Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho today
received the 2013 Polar Music Prize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at a
gala ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall.



To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:



http://www.multivu.com/mnr/62402-polar-music-prize-2013



The Award of one million Swedish kronor ($145 000) each was handed over by the King
together with specially made paintings by Swedish artist Jens Fange. Citations were read
by Swedish football player Henrik Larsson and Finnish mezzo soprano Lilli Paasikivi.



Among the artists who celebrated the Laureates were Neneh Cherry and Carlou D who
performed Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry's 1994 hit "7 Seconds". Swedish soprano Hanna
Husahr performed two pieces by Kaija Saariaho together with The Royal Stockholm
Philharmonic Orchestra.



The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1991 by the late Stig "Stikkan" Anderson, the
musical entrepreneur and manager behind ABBA. The Prize is awarded to two individuals,
groups or institutions - in different musical fields - in recognition of exceptional
achievements in the creation and advancement of music.



"Our dad liked to say, 'Music has no boundaries, it touches, influences and changes
the world'", says Marie Ledin, daughter of Stig Anderson and Managing Director of the
Polar Music Prize.



Among the 44 Laureates since 1992 are Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Karlheinz
Stockhausen, Joni Mitchell, Ray Charles and Ravi Shankar.



Quote from the Kaija Saariaho Citation:


"Kaija Saariaho is a modern maestro who opens up our ears and causes their anvils and
stirrups to fall in love"



Quote from the Youssou N'Dour Citation:


"His voice encompasses an entire continent's history and future, blood and love,
dreams and power."



Full citations and biographies and a list of all the Laureates since 1992 can be found
at: http://www.polarmusicprize.org. To see the ceremony: http://www.tv4play.se



The celebration continues this evening with a banquet at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm
with celebrity guests such as the Swedish Royal Family, ministers of the Swedish
Government, legendary U.S. music entrepreneur Seymour Stein, Polar Music Prize Laureate of
2006 John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economic Sciences in 1990
William F. Sharpe, Bianca Jagger of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation and many
more from the arts, music and cultural industries.




For further information please contact:
press@polarmusicprize.org
Sandra Nordin +46-70-697-39-59
Tanja Maatta +46-72-360-97-17






Video:
http://www.multivu.com/mnr/62402-polar-music-prize-2013


Video:http://www.multivu.com/mnr/62402-polar-music-prize-2013
The Polar Music Prize


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