The viola da gambist, conductor and scholar will receive €250,000 in recognition for his lifetime achievements in music
Catalan musician Jordi Savall has been awarded the 2026 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, which recognises a lifetime of outstanding contributions to music.
The prize carries an endowment of €250,000. A prize ceremony will be held on 23 May 2026 at the Prinzregententheater in Munich, Germany. The ensembles Hespèrion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya, both founded by Savall and his late wife soprano Montserrat Figueras, will perform at the ceremony, with Savall conducting.
Savall began his musical training in Barcelona as a cellist. Inspired by his enthusiasm for Renaissance music, he later chose the viola da gamba as his principal instrument and completed his studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, where he would later teach.
Since the late 1960s, Savall has worked to advance early music as a performer and researcher exploring medieval and Renaissance manuscripts.
In addition to founding Hespèrion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Savall also founded Le Concert des Nations in 1989, an orchestra performing Baroque, Classical, and early Romantic repertoire on period instruments.
He founded the record label Alia Vox in 1998, which has since released more than 230 recordings and sold over two million CDs worldwide.
As an educator, Savall has worked with the Youth Orchestra and Choir Professional Academies (YOCPA), a project run by the Fundació Centre Internacional de Música Antiga (CIMA) with support from the European Union. The twelve-day academies provide advanced training and professional experience for emerging musicians.
Additionally, Savall has combined his musical career with social activism. In 2018, he founded the ensemble Orpheus XXI, which brings together refugee musicians from North Africa and the Arab world.
His research has traced the journey of music since the 15th century along the routes of the slave trade, revealing the intertwined roots of African and European musical traditions.
He continues to advocate for peace to this day: ‘Music cannot end war, but it can bring peace to our hearts. Music is the only language that speaks directly to the heart. Without it, life would be impossible.’
Additionally, three Composers Prizes, each worth €35,000, will go to British composer Bethan Morgan-Williams, Armenian composer Hovik Sardaryan, and Australian composer Kitty Xiao. Each prize additionally includes a digital recording release.
The 2026 Ensemble Prizes will be awarded to NO HAY BANDA from Canada and the Ensemble for New Music Tallinn from Estonia.
The Ernst von Siemens Music Prize has been awarded annually since 1973 by the private Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation (EvS Music Foundation), based in Switzerland. Previous recipients include Simon Rattle in 2025 and Tabea Zimmermann in 2020.
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