Azrieli Music Prizes Gala Concert celebrates laureates’ compositions
The Azrieli Music, Arts and Culture Centre (AMACC) presents the sixth biennial Azrieli Music Prizes (AMP) Gala Concert on 15 October 2026 at Maison symphonique de Montréal, premiering four new prizewinning works for choir, symphonic orchestra and soloists by the 2026 laureates.
The four laureates are Hana Ajiashvili, winner of the Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music, for her reorchestrated work Riddle, setting a mystical text by 12th-century poet Yehuda Halevi; Dalit Hadass Warshaw, recipient of the Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music, for Letter from Across the River, which recounts the true story of her great-grandfather during Nazi-occupied Poland; Adrian Mocanu, recipient of the Azrieli Commission for International Music, for de l’encra escafada, exploring the nearly-lost legacy of medieval French female troubadours; and Nicholas Denton Protsack, recipient of the Azrieli Commission for Canadian Music, for Height of Land, a large-scale work reflecting on the interdependence between land, water and human presence in Canada.
The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and OSM Chorus, led by Israeli conductor Asher Fisch, will perform the works alongside soloists Hila Baggio (soprano), Hila Plitmann (soprano), Noam Heinz (baritone), Ariel Barnes (cello) and viol ensemble Les Voix humaines.
The concert will be livestreamed free of charge on Medici.tv, Amadeus.tv, The Violin Channel and the Azrieli Music Prizes YouTube channel.
Created in 2014 by Sharon Azrieli C.Q., D.Mus for the Azrieli Foundation, the biennial AMP is one of the most significant composition competitions in the world, with a total prize package valued at over CAD 250,000 per laureate, including a cash award of CAD 50,000, two subsequent international performances and a commercial studio recording.