The Azrieli Music Prizes: 2028 Call for Applications

The AZRIELI MUSIC PRIZES 2028 Call for applications
 
Focus: Chamber music (up to 15 musicians)  
Launch date: February 4, 2026
Application Deadline: May 6, 2026
Link: www.azrielifoundation.org/AMP
 
Created in 2014 by Sharon Azrieli CQ for the Azrieli Foundation, the Azrieli Music Prizes (AMP) offer opportunities for the discovery, creation, performance and celebration of excellence in music composition.

The Azrieli Music Prizes

The Azrieli Music Prizes comprise three thematic commissioning prizes aimed at professional composers.

 
The three Prizes are:

• The Azrieli Commission for Canadian Music
  • Awarded to a composer who engages critically and creatively with the complexities of composing music in Canada today. 
• The Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music
  • Awarded to a composer who engages critically and creatively with the question “What is Jewish Music?”. 
• The Azrieli Commission for International Music
  • Awarded to a composer who engages deeply in exploring cultural expression that has a meaningful connection to their lived experience.

The Prizes are awarded on a competitive basis to an individual composer whose application proposes a response to the selected Prize theme that displays the utmost creativity, artistry, technical mastery and professional expertise. Applications, as described below, include samples of the composer's past work, a written essay (the Proposal) and other supporting documents. Each prize winner (laureate) is commissioned to write a new work for chamber ensemble (3-15 players), to be delivered in summer 2028.  
 
Open to the international music community, AMP accepts proposals for works from individuals of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities, faiths and genders.

Offering the most substantial awards of its kind in Canada, AMP has become one of the most significant composition competitions in the world.

The musical works resulting from each of the three Prizes will be:

• awarded a cash prize of $50,000 CAD;
• given a premiere at the AMP Gala Concert in Montreal in Fall 2028;
• given two subsequent international performances; and 
• professionally recorded for a future commercial release.  

Altogether, the prize package for each Azrieli Music Prize is valued at over $250,000 CAD.

The performance partner for the 2028 Azrieli Music Prizes is le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Le NEM), based in Montreal, Canada

There is no application fee for the Azrieli Music Prizes.