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Zeppelin, Gergiev Win Polar Music Prize

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 November 2005, 04:19 CST

By Jeffrey de Hart

STOCKHOLM (Billboard) - Defunct rock act Led Zeppelin and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev were on Monday awarded the annual Polar Music Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, joining such laureates as Paul McCartney, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones and Joni Mitchell.

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will award the one million Swedish kronor prizes May 22 at a gala ceremony at Konserthuset, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra's concert hall, where the annual Nobel Prize ceremony is held.

The citation issued by the Academy called Led Zeppelin "one of the great pioneers of rock" and commented that the band's "playful and experimental music combined with highly eclectic elements has two essential themes: mysticism and primal energy."

Gergiev, the founder and artistic director of many international music festivals, was cited for "the way his unique, electrifying musical skills have deepened and renewed our relationship with the grand tradition; and for how he has managed to develop and amplify the importance of artistic music in these modern, changing times."

The Polar Music Prize is awarded annually based on nominations submitted by the board of the Stig Anderson Music Award Foundation, consisting of representatives from the family of the late ABBA impresario, the Swedish Society of Popular Music Composers (SKAP) and the Swedish Performing Rights Society (STIM).

Reuters/Billboard

Source: REUTERS

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