Pablo Casals Award

Pablo Casals Award

For a better world

"With the opening of the Casals Forum at the Kronberg Festival 2022, the Kronberg Academy established a new tradition: it annually awards the Pablo Casals Award – For A Better World, initiated by the Cologne-based asset manager Flossbach von Storch. Each year, the award is presented to an artist who demonstrates exceptional social engagement.

The great cellist Pablo Casals (1876–1973) was a passionate advocate for peace. His life motto was: Art and humanity are inseparable.

“First and foremost, I am a human being, and secondly, an artist. As a human being, it is my primary duty to do good to my fellow human beings.”

Not only did he exemplify this principle, but he also called on all musicians to 'place the purity of their art in the service of humanity.' The ethos of the Kronberg Academy Foundation is derived from Pablo Casals' stance: Artists bear responsibility for music, humanity, and the earth.

Through the awarding of this prize, artists are supported and encouraged to follow the example set by Pablo Casals, thus inspiring future generations as role models."

© Andreas Malkmus

The prize is endowed with €10,000. The prize money is intended to support the project of the respective laureate. The engagement or project awarded by the Pablo Casals Award should demonstrate a significant potential so that the grant can be effectively utilized.

The jury of the Pablo Casals Award – For A Better World mainly consists of members of the artistic advisory board of the Kronberg Academy Foundation: Marta Casals Istomin, Christoph Eschenbach, Gidon Kremer, Sir András Schiff, and the Chairman of the Board Raimund Trenkler. They are supported by the initiative "Artists for a Better Future" founded by Christoph Poppen.

Recipients:

2023: Lars Vogt (1970-2022), posthumously awarded for his initiative “Rhapsody in School”
2022: Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Martin Helmchen, for the project “Music Road Rwanda”

The Pablo Casals Award is sponsored by