Esa-Pekka Salonen Wins 2012 Grawemeyer Award for His "Violin Concerto"

Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen (TEOSTO) won the 2012 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for his piece "Violin Concerto." The four-movement, half-hour concerto begins with a solitary violin, moves on to embrace a series of themes ranging from a quiet heartbeat to urban pop music. The award comes with a $100,000 prize. His "Violin Concerto" was selected for the Grawemeyer Award from among 165 entries. Salonen, conductor and artistic advisor for the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, was music director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 17 years. In 2006, he was named Musician of the Year by Musical America magazine. He was named the orchestra's first conductor laureate after stepping down from the Los Angeles job in 2009.