Stefania Becheanu: Winner of the 4th QuattroPole Music Award
The 4th QuattroPole Music Award, which celebrates artists who create innovative music, was presented on Wednesday, 8 April, at the Arsenal Jean-Marie Rausch in Metz before an audience of over 150 people. During the evening, the audience was treated to performances by the four finalists, who had been selected by a cross-border panel of judges. Following deliberations, Stefania Becheanu was named this year's winner. The honour comes with a €10,000 prize from the QuattroPole network.
An up-tempo evening replete with shared experiences
Metz journalist Alicia Hiblot deftly emceed the event, which featured four 20-minute performances interspersed with key highlights and discussions with the artists. The evening kicked off with opening remarks by Philippe Brunella, City of Metz deputy mayor for culture, who was representing Metz Mayor and QuattroPole Chairman François Grosdidier. There were also interviews with the finalists and a round-table discussion with the music coordinators. Two previous winners were in attendance: Hervé Birolini (2019 winner) and Oleksii Rybak (2023 winner). Alexandre Bianchi, chief executive of artisan jewellers Maison Bianchi, unveiled the trophy that his company had designed specially for the occasion: a one-of-a-kind piece incorporating the emblems of the four partner cities and symbols of contemporary musical creation.
Four powerful, heartfelt performances
Each of the featured projects explored in its own way immersive, nuanced forms of contemporary sound creation. Representing Saarbrücken, Maria Teresa Treccozzi presented "HörbarZelt II", an electro-acoustic performance installation in which voice, music and space come together to create an intimate listening experience that examines identity and cultural diversity. Representing Trier, Bernd Thewes presented "CODE Figur auf Landschaft (Travestie)", a piece for solo flute and multichannel sound projection that plays on the perception between figure and soundscape in a tension-filled listening experience. Representing Metz, Stefania Becheanu presented "Rencontrer l'ours", a performance piece combining music and movement that draws on rituals to explore fear and group dynamics in a hypnotic experience. Finally, representing Luxembourg City, The Night FM (alias Yliana Paolini), with her project "Whispers from the Glitch.exe – Beauty – Tremors (THE NIGHT FM)", examined the emotions associated with digital environments by exploring the forms of intimacy, desire and tension generated by our interactions with technology.
Stefania Becheanu, winner of the 4th QuattroPole Music Award
After deliberation, the panel of judges – made up of Catherine Kontz and Cathy Krier (Luxembourg City), Aurore Gruel and Gilles Sornette (Metz), Stefan Zintel and Jürgen Martin (Saarbrücken), and Wouter Padberg and Anne-May Krüger (Trier) – crowned Stefania Becheanu the winner for her project, "Rencontrer l'ours".
Stefania Becheanu is the fourth winner of the QuattroPole Music Award, which celebrates a singular artistic project.
About the QuattroPole Music Award
Every other year since 2019, the QuattroPole Music Award has been given to a musician or composer who produces works in the fields of contemporary music and art music (electronic, experimental, contemporary, etc.) and uses digital technology in an innovative way, including visual effects and diverse performances.
The award is one of the pillars of cross-border cultural cooperation between the cities that form the QuattroPole network. The award's primary goal is to strengthen cross-border networking between the partner cities' local cultural scenes, and to boost the visibility of the QuattroPole city network in the Greater Region and beyond.
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