The Finnish nominees for the Nordic Council Music Prize 2024 are contemporary classical composer Cecilia Damström (pictured left) and jazz artist and composer Linda Fredriksson (pictured right).

Finland’s nominees are composer Cecilia Damström for the work Extinctions (2023) and saxophonist Linda Fredriksson for their solo debut album Juniper (2021). Åland – an autonomous region of Finland – also has its own nominee with classical composer Peter Lång's work LUFT (2022).

Cecilia Damström (b. 1988) has become known as a versatile and skilled composer who masters many different forms of expression, from chamber and vocal music to children’s operas and works for symphony orchestra. In her work, Damström addresses the surrounding world and the troubles our time. Damström's long series of works about the climate crisis (Requiem for our Earth, ICE, Fretus, Wasteland, Permafrost) culminates with Extinctions, which was written for the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and had its premiere in January 2024.

Linda Fredriksson’s solo debut Juniper is, according to the Nordic Council Music Prize jury's rationale, already regarded as a classic, despite being released only two years ago. When the album was released, Fredriksson (b. 1985) had already carved a substantial career as a soloist in successful ensembles. Juniper is described as an "intimately fragile yet powerful whole, where lyrical beautiful melodies blend with a synthetic soundscape" and "singer-songwriter music performed by a jazz band".

Established in 1965, the Nordic Council Music Prize is intended to recognise creative and practicing musicians of a high artistic standard. It is worth DKK 300 000 (approximately 40 300 €) and is awarded on alternate years to a work by a living composer in one year, and an individual performer or group the next. The winner is chosen by an adjudication committee that consists of experts from the five Nordic countries. The Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland have submitted nominations since 1997.

Among the previous Finnish winners are Aulis Sallinen (1978), Magnus Lindberg (1988), Leif Segerstam (1999), Kaija Saariaho (2000), Kari Kriikku (2009), Pekka Kuusisto (2013), Susanna Mälkki (2017), Sampo Haapamäki (2020) and Maija Kauhanen (2023).

The winner will be announced on 22 October, along with other Nordic prizes, and will receive the “Nordlys” statuette during an awards ceremony in conjunction with the Session of the Nordic Council in Reykjavik in the week commencing 28 October.

See the complete list of the 12 nominees and their descriptions by the prize committee here.

Read our most recent articles on Cecilia Damström and Linda Fredriksson.

Browse Cecilia Damström's works on Music Finland's Composers & Repertoire website.