Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, Italian translator Anita Raja, and Greek theater director Prodromos Tsinikoris have received the Goethe Medal. All three are Europeans whose work is particularly connected to Germany, said Gesche Joost, President of the Goethe-Institut, on Friday in Weimar at the presentation of the official honor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Award of the Goethe Medal 2026

Pärt lived in Berlin for many years when his works were banned in the Soviet Union, Joost explained. "His compositions touch people all over the world through their unique soundscape." In his laudatory speech for the 90-year-old, musicologist Björn Gottstein praised Pärt's works as "flawless, of precious beauty, and always intimate and personal." The composer, he said, "reached and touched people across all social classes and cultures with his music."

In his acceptance speech, Pärt's son Michael described how formative the time in Germany had been for his family and his father's artistic work: "More than forty years ago, my family arrived in the German-speaking world and discovered that they were not among strangers. People and institutions here gave my father trust and freedom – and thus granted his music the space to develop."

The Goethe Medal has been awarded annually since 1955. It is the official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany and the most important prize in foreign cultural policy. The recipients are selected by a jury chaired by the author and dramatist Thomas Oberender. Past recipients include the composers György Ligeti (1990), Rolf Liebermann (1997), Sofia Gubaidulina (2001), and Péter Eötvös (2019); the conductor Simone Young (2005); the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim (2007); and the opera and theater director Gerard Mortier (2014, posthumously).

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