涩里番

Philippe Leroux, composer and associate professor in Music Research at the Schulich School of Music, has been awarded the 2025 Donaueschinger Musiktage Orchesterpreis (Orchestra Prize) for his new work Paris, Banlieue. In his composition, Leroux addresses the web of relationships between central Paris and its suburbs鈥攅specially with regard to the movements of people triggered by their daily work.聽聽

Paris, Banlieue premiered at the opening concert of the festival, performed by the (SWR) Symphony Orchestra under the direction of its chief conductor, Fran莽ois-Xavier Roth. was awarded following the Donaueschinger Musiktage鈥檚 final concert on October 19th, 2025. Felix Birnbaum, percussionist of the SWR Symphony Orchestra, called Leroux鈥檚 work 鈥渁 powerful, imaginative orchestral piece 鈥� with a surplus of electronics鈥�.聽聽

On being awarded the prize, Leroux said he is 鈥渧ery happy to receive [the Orchestra Prize], because it is awarded by all the musicians of the [SWR]鈥� and not by a jury made up of only a few people. The prize is also linked to the promise that the winning work will be performed again in subsequent seasons of the SWR as part of subscription and touring concerts.聽聽

Looking forward, Leroux鈥檚 opera L'annonce faite 脿 Marie, originally written in 2022 and based on a play by Paul Claudel, will be performed once again at Th茅芒tre du Ch芒telet in Paris during January and February 2026. He is also 鈥渟tarting work on a new piece for sheng (a Chinese mouth organ), 27 musicians, and electronics.鈥� It will be premiered in June 2027 by the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Wu Wei, a prominent sheng player at the Philharmonie de Paris, as part of the IRCAM Manifeste festival.聽

At over 100 years old, is one of the oldest and most prestigious festivals of New Music in the world. The festival brings century-old orchestral and choral music culture together with the latest innovations in technology and media, making it a foremost meeting place in the New Music scene, even outside the German-speaking world.聽