Kevin Puts won the 1573 International Award for Best Composer 2024

Kevin Puts, the prolific Grammy Award winning composer, is the recipient of the 1573 International Award for Best Composer of 2024.

The news was announced by the International Poetry & Liquor Conference on September 4th, which confers the annual prize since last year. The award ceremony as well as a portrait concert which Mr Puts is scheduled to attend will take place on September 17^th in Shanghai.

Founded in 2017, the Conference is under the auspices of the Luzhou Municipal People's Government of Sichuan province in China and POETRY PERIODICAL published by China Writers Association. It is co-organized by the Chinese Poetry Network, Luzhou Laojiao Guojiao 1573 Research Institute, and Zhongshi Huakai Media Group. Guojiao 1573 is the flagship liquor of Luzhou Laojiao, a famous Chinese liquor manufacturer, which was believed to have started its first brewery in 1573.

Poet laureate Jidi Majia serves as the chairman of the Organizing Committee of the International Poetry & Liquor Conference, which gave out its inaugural annual "1573 International Poetry Award" in 2017, an effort to promote poetry and liquor culture in an international context. In 2023, the 1573 International Poetry Award for Translation and the 1573 International Award for Best Composer were both added to commend outstanding contributions by poetry translators and composers around the world. The winners of the inaugural 1573 International Award for Best Composer in 2023 were French composer Hugues Dufourt and Chinese French composer Chen Qigang.

Kevin Puts is the recipient of the 1573 International Award for Best Composer 2024. The winner is nominated and selected by a jury of leading composers and musicians in China, chaired by composer Guo Wenjing. Other members included He Wei, CEO & Artistic Director of Tianjin Juilliard, Peng Zhimin, musicologist and former rector of Wuhan Conservatory of Music, Zhang Yi, conductor, Artistic Director of National Ballet of China and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, and Hao Weiya, composer and dean of the composition department of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

In the selection of Kevin Puts, the jury commented, “As an influential figure in the realm of art music in the United States, Kevin Puts’ compositions both honor and transcend the traditions of European classical music, establishing himself as a champion and advocate for American music. It is our hope that through this award-winning concert, he will engage in dialogue, exchange ideas, and collaborate with Chinese composers on the path of contemporary music making.”

Kevin Puts was "deeply honored and surprised" by this award.

Although the composer has not yet tasted Chinese liquor, he believed that liquor culture is closely related to his own creative process. He added, “I strive for a certain elegance and refinement in my music and perhaps this is what makers of the finest wines and liquors also look for. Perhaps we are all trying to craft something which appeals at first ‘taste’, in other words, on the surface, but also reveals depth, substance and nuance upon further reflection.”

Chinese audience will have the opportunity to experience the sound world of Kevin Puts' latest compositions. On September 17, a portrait concert will be held at Shanghai Symphony Hall. Conductor Yang Yang will lead the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in performing three newly composed works by Kevin Puts and those of composers who have greatly inspired him.

The program for the concert was suggested by the composer. His three compositions, including the largest Concerto for Orchestra which places a spotlight on the different sections and principal players in the orchestra. Another large work is Silent Elegy, a fantasy from his first opera Silent Night. The third is Virelai, which is based on a melody by the 14th-century French composer Guillaume de Machaut.

There will be other two works whose composers have inspired Kevin Puts' creation from different degrees and at different stages. Mozart is Kevin's favorite composer. The concert will also present the first movement of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor (KV 550). The works of Michael Torke, a contemporary American composer, have greatly enlightened Kevin as an emerging composer. “He is one of very few contemporary composers with the courage to write truly beautiful, uplifting music with great skill and expertise.” he said. The concert will also feature Michael Torke's December.

The influence of the two composers on Kevin Puts is reflected in his accessible and educational creation. To strike a balance between “accessible” and “complex”, Kevin believed it was especially crucial to write “the most honest music”. “Honest” here refers not only to the musical material used, but also to the attitude.

He explained, “The most misguided assumption about composers who write ‘accessible’ music is the idea that they are doing it in order to be accessible. I am writing music which is a natural reflection of the music by other composers which I love the most, music which has been an inspiration to me since childhood. I don't believe in bowing to pressure to be part of current fashions and trends in music if this is not the language that speaks to me most powerfully.”

“A composer must write with the musical materials that are exciting to him/her as he claimed, otherwise composing is drudgery. In short, I hope that any success I have had recently is the result of my writing the most honest music I can. In response to the ‘educational’ component, I wish for sophistication and complexity when it is needed. I believe some of the music that sounds the most complex to the ear is actually not terribly complicated on the written page.”

The composer will attend the concert on September 17 to communicate with his peers. He is looking forward to his trip to China.

 “Chinese culture and music are rich and fascinating to me. I have always loved Chinese historical films and dramas, and there are several contemporary Chinese composers—many of them working in the US - whose work I admire very much. I look forward to this time I will have in China with great excitement,” Kevin Puts said.

Writing the Most Honest Music
An Interview with Kevin Puts

Q: Have you tried Chinese liquor before? What's your impression?
Kevin: I have not tried it, but I look forward to doing so very soon!

Q: How would you like to relate music-making with alcohol/wine in general? How about your own music?
Kevin: Well, I think I strive for a certain elegance and refinement in my music and perhaps this is what makers of the finest wines and liquors also look for. Perhaps we are all trying to craft something which appeals at first "taste", in other words, on the surface, but also reveals depth, substance and nuance upon further reflection.

Q: Three of your pieces will be performed in Shanghai. How did the program come about?
Kevin: I was asked to choose some works of mine and I chose three of my most recent orchestral works. Perhaps the biggest is my recent Concerto for Orchestra, which places a spotlight on the different sections and also principal players in the orchestra. The other large work is called Silent Night Elegy, a kind of orchestral fantasy based on the music from my first opera, Silent Night, which is set on the battlefield of World War I. And there is also a short fanfare called Virelai, based on a melody by the 14th century composer Guillaume de Machaut.
I was also asked to suggest works or composers which have been an inspiration to me. So I chose Mozart, my favorite composer, and also a work called December by the contemporary American composer Michael Torke, whose works were a great inspiration to me as a young, emerging composer. He is one of very few contemporary composers with the courage to write truly beautiful, uplifting music with great skill and expertise. 

Q: You won a Grammy Award last year. What's your trick in making contemporary music accessible and educational at the same time?
Kevin: The most misguided assumption about composers who write "accessible" music is the idea that they are doing it in order to be accessible. I am writing music which is a natural reflection of the music by other composers which I love the most, music which has been an inspiration to me since childhood. I don't believe in bowing to pressure to be part of current fashions and trends in music if this is not the language that speaks to me most powerfully. A composer must write with the musical materials that are exciting to them, otherwise composing is drudgery. In short, I hope that any success I have had recently is the result of my writing the most honest music I can. In response to the "educational" component, as you describe it, I wish for sophistication and complexity when it is needed. I believe some of the music that sounds the most complex to the ear is actually not terribly complicated on the written page. 

Q: What's your impression of Chinese culture and music?
Kevin: Chinese culture and music are rich and fascinating to me. I have always loved Chinese historical films and dramas, and there are several contemporary Chinese composers--many of them working in the US - whose work I admire very much. I look forward to this time I will have in China with great excitement!