Rebecca Saunders wins €150,000 Wihuri Sibelius Prize

The Berlin-based British composer joins a distinguished list of laureates that includes Benjamin Britten, Olivier Messiaen, György Ligeti and Kaija Saariaho.

Rebecca Saunders has been awarded the 2026 Wihuri Sibelius Prize, worth €150,000, recognising her contribution to contemporary classical music.

Presented by Finland’s Wihuri Foundation for International Prizes, the honour recognises composers with an established international reputation and a distinguished artistic career. Awarded every three years, it was first presented to Jean Sibelius in 1953.

Previous recipients include Benjamin Britten, Olivier Messiaen, Witold Lutosławski, György Ligeti, Kaija Saariaho, György Kurtág and Unsuk Chin. French composer Tristan Murail received the prize in 2023.

A distinctive musical voice

Born in London in 1967 and based in Berlin, Saunders has developed a musical language centred on the physical and spatial qualities of sound. Her work explores instrumental colour, the gestures through which musicians produce sound, and the relationship between sound and silence. Close collaboration with performers is central to her approach.

The prize committee highlighted the intensity and fragility of her music, praising the precision with which she develops distinctive sonic worlds and moves between immense power and silence.

Accepting the award, Saunders stressed the importance of supporting contemporary art and defending its independence: “In today’s fragile world, protecting the absolute autonomy of art is a necessity we must fiercely defend”.

From concert music to opera

Saunders’ output encompasses orchestral and chamber music, concertos, works for dance and theatre, and installations that explore the placement of sound in space. Her previous honours include the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2019 and the Venice Biennale’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2024.

Her first opera, Lash – Acts of Love, received its world premiere at Deutsche Oper Berlin on 20 June 2025. Written to a libretto by Saunders and the artist and writer Ed Atkins, based on Atkins’ original text, the three-act work explores the body, desire, love and loss. Enno Poppe conducted the premiere, in a production by the Irish directing collective Dead Centre.