CULTURE AWARD
The Hubert von Goisern Culture Award
For the advancement of talent and perseverance; granted for outstanding commitment and achievement in music. To support inspired and inspiring people; or to further innovative solutions and ideas, which benefit the common good. The award will allocate a total of €15,000 each year until 2024.
"I was supported by many people through the penniless early years of my career. And these people did so because they believed in what I was doing. I want to keep that going: with this award I want to support people who artistically contemplate and deal with the world in ways in which I find exciting and important. I am in the privileged position to be able to do just that." – Hubert von Goisern
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
On 25 May 2024, in the heart of the Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut, the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award was presented for the last time. This year there were three great winners, who each received €5000 in recognition of and as support for their art: singer Anna Buchegger, sound artist Ulrich Schleicher, and musician and composer Paul Plut.
The evening was opened by award founder Hubert von Goisern, who welcomed the guests to the historic Lehár Theater in Bad Ischl. He praised not only the quality and potential of the artists who had entered, but also his trustworthy jury, the members of whom play an important role in the selection process, ensuring that any blind or deaf spots are taken care of.
Hubert von Goisern, who has supported more than thirty artists since 2018 with his culture award, continued to preside over the evening. After each well-deserved laudation he presented the winners with their certificates and trophies he had made himself, branded with dragons bringing good fortune, which delighted the artists.
Live performances from each award winner formed three special highlights of the evening. The enthusiastic audience of friends, family members and supporters enjoyed the diverse creativity and musicality these artists have to offer.
Ulrich Schleicher, a talented guitarist, played three pieces from his current programme Saitnhieb, which deals with escape and the sun. The former in connection with friends and in particular the refugee children with whom he has worked at the non-profit organisation Let's Play Vienna. The sun is also connected to the idea of escape: in Syria those whose whereabouts are unknown are given the term "Khalf al Shams". Or in Austrian: "Hinta da Sunn" – behind the sun.
This autumn Anna Buchegger will be releasing her first album, Windschatten (Slipstream) and in Bad Ischl she gave a wonderful taster of the work with five songs. She poses existential questions and tackles topical subjects from her own experiences. At the piano she sang and yodelled and gave the audience a great deal to consider on the topic of homeland. A song played on the hammered dulcimer became a wonderful duet when Hubert von Goisern joined the singer with an improvised yodel.
Paul Plut opened his set with a song about the town of Steyr on the small register Hohner accordion, inspired by impressions from his travels. On his website, the musician has recorded the origins and development of his songs and albums in meticulous detail. Pressed plants, little miscellaneous finds and literary inspiration accompany his latest album Herbarium. A homemade devil's fiddle was employed for an alternative version of his song Vota, before Plut sang a gstanzl for the town of Hallein a cappella, bringing the highly enjoyable evening to an end.
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Hubert von Goisern Culture Award Ceremony 2024
Photo: © Sarah Marchant
Congratulations to the winners of the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award 2024
Anna Buchegger
Anna Buchegger receives the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award 2024 for her extraordinary musical talent, creative and critical approach to the musical tradition of her/our homeland, for the steps she has taken out of the world of Starmania and into the riskier, but more vibrant world of artistic self-empowerment. This award should give her courage to follow this path.
Paul Plut
Paul Plut is certainly one of the most headstrong and uncompromising musicians and singer-songwriters in Austria. As a composer and lyricist he lets the stories of the past resound, letting his audience experience a sense of timelessness. His songs have the consistency of boulders and yet are the document of erosion. He sings and tells these stories with an intensity that is beyond compare.
Ulrich Schleicher
Ulrich Schleicher's commitment, willingness to create and urge to innovate is impressive - in not just his guitar playing, but also his compositions for theatre, his work with refugee children and his explorations of sound. He is an exceptional artist and deserves this award for each and every one of his diverse ventures.
The Hubert von Goisern Culture Award prize money of €15,000 will be divided equally among the winners.
The award ceremony will take place on 25 May 2024 in Bad Ischl.
Dear colleagues ...
There were 112 applications this time and as in years past, the jury and I have chosen three winners. These words are addressed to the no less valued candidates who applied for the Culture Award 2024 and unfortunately didn't make it to the podium.
At this point I ask for your indulgence in not being able to personally address the individual submissions. Most of you deserve to have the thoughts and feelings that I had while reading and listening to your entries put into personal words.
I spent a week reading and listening to your entries. Your biographies and submitted work attest to great dedication and creativity. So choosing the winners wasn't an easy decision. I am happy to have a wonderful jury in Elisabeth Schneider, Margarethe Hlawa-Grundner, Günter Huemer and Hage Hein by my side, ensuring that any blind or deaf spots were compensated for.
Even though the disappointment is understandably great, you all have reason to keep believing in yourselves and your ideas and keep on working. We were really taken with the variety, the high grade of creativity, professionalism, self-confidence, elegance and depth in your work.
The jury and I wish you all continued joy in music.
Heart & light,
Hubert
The Hubert von Goisern Culture Award 2024
Since 2018, the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award has been presented once a year and in 2024 the undertaking will come to an end for the time being. Together with a jury Hubert von Goisern chooses artists whose creativity and efforts deserve and require support. The financial support offered by the Culture Award encourages the winners to continue their work and to live out their creativity, enabling the public to both share in and be inspired by it.
In light of the growing number of applications each year, the founder of the award has decided with a heavy heart to put in place a couple of restrictions. Firstly, only applicants whose main country of residence is Austria may now apply. Secondly, only applications from the field of music will now be considered - this includes music-related event and social-educational initiatives. Entries from the fields of visual arts, dance, film, literature etc. can unfortunately no longer be accepted.
The jury
Hubert von Goisern - Chairman
Musician Composer and producer, working between the poles of world music and folk music, tradition and the modern. www.hubertvongoisern.com
Elisabeth Schneider
Culture manager and mediator Director at "Das Zentrum" in Radstadt. The cultural association was founded in 1981 and is among the most significant cultural institutions in the province of Salzburg. As artistic director, Elisabeth is responsible for programme and project development, as well as implementation. For many years she has been active nationwide, including in Culture Council in the Salzburg Provincial Government, Leader Pongau etc. www.daszentrum.at
Günter Huemer
Culture worker Programme planning at Brucknerhaus Linz 1994 - 2009, Linz Klangwolke project management, management and programme planning at Linz Veranstaltungsarena, and staging of large-scale open air concerts at Linz Stadion. Artistic Director and Chairman of culture association VOI - Kultur am Markt, in St. Martin im Mühlkreis, Upper Austria since 2017. A significant part of his cultural work is dedicated to the support and promotion of young artists. www.voikultur.at
Margarethe Hlawa-Grundner - Coordination
Musician & cultural event organiser
Margarethe completed her studies in concert violin at the Salzburg Mozarteum. She now appears mainly with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, as well as being involved in numerous other formations. In the summer of 2015 she and her husband opened Café Kurkuma in Hallein. From the very beginning, the little stage in the café was a venue for the arts. Since April 2019 she has been the chairwoman of the Kunst im Ziegenstall association, which manages that stage at the newly named Pan Café. www.musik-yoga-leben.com
Hage Hein
Music manager Since 1979, Hage Hein has made it his mission to champion original artists in various fields, mainly in the German-speaking region. He began as a booker (Schroeder Roadshow), has been a publisher since 1981 (Hans-A-Plast, Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung, Willy Astor, Hubert von Goisern ...), and founded the music label Capriola in 1995, distributed by SONY Music. Hage Hein's company Blanko Musik GmbH represents musicians such as Hubert von Goisern, Ganes, Georg Ringsgwandl, Ami Warning - and his interest in artists who seek ambitious new paths is unabated. www.blankomusik.de