Press Releases of the Würth Group, Würth Group

In his encomium, composer Mauricio Kagel put his finger on it: Within the few years since the formation of the philharmonic Michael Kaufmann’s program has succeeded in appealing to a growing audience without abandoning quality demands. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Würth Group Robert Friedmann acknowledged Mr. Kaufmann’s involvement in youth development which, among other things, finds expression in a young audience. In his view, entrepreneurial responsibility includes supporting such cultural initiatives. In his answer, Mr. Kaufmann expressed his belief that music has the power to change people for the better and called it "basic food" to culturally educate young people.

Since 1991, the Würth Prize of JMD – supported by the Family Trusts founded by Reinhold and Carmen Würth – has been awarded to personalities, ensembles or projects of German musical life that are role models in giving music new impetus. In the past, the prize was awarded to artists such as Claudio Abbado, Phil Glass or Tabea Zimmermann, to ensembles such as Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Ensemble Resonanz or the Venezuelan young philharmonic orchestra as well as to projects such as the education programme of Berliner Philharmoniker.
Winners of the Würth Prize of the Jeunesses Musicales Germany between 1991 and 2006
1991 Dennis Russell Davies 1992 Arcis Quintett1993 Philip Glass 1994 Nicaragua Project „Casa des los tres Mundos“ 1995 Children’s choirs of the “Brundibár“ Project 1996 Yakov Kreizberg 1997 Junge Deutsche Philharmonie 1998 Henry W. Meyer 1999 Tabea Zimmermann 2000 National Children’s Orchestra of Venezuela 2001 Claudio Abbado 2002 Ensemble Resonanz 2003 Theo Geißler 2004 Education Programme of Berliner Philharmoniker 2005 Philharmonia of the Nations 2006 Michael Kaufmann