British composer Julian Anderson has won the 2023 Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition for his cello concerto ‘Litanies’, one of five awards given annually by the University of Louisville, Kentucky.

‘Litanies’, written for cellist Alban Gerhardt, reflects on a time of loss for the world of art, music and architecture. Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire whilst Anderson was writing the piece, and became a central focal point for his writing, as well as the loss of his friend, composer Oliver Knussen, to whom the slow movement is dedicated.

Studying with John Lambert, Alexander Goehr and Tristan Murail, Anderson’s career has included commissions from the London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony and New York Philharmonic Orchestras and a recent Ivors Composers Award nomination, also for Litanies. Other successes include his acclaimed Symphony No. 2, ‘Prague Panoramas’, which was premiered at the BBC Proms this year by Semyon Bychkov and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

A professor of composition and composer-in-residence at Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London since 2007, Anderson also has taught music composition at Harvard University and the Royal College of Music. In 2021 he was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his service to music.

Speaking of receiving the award, Anderson said ‘previous winners include Louis Andriessen, György Kurtág and indeed, Harrison Birtwistle. So it’s certainly intimidating, but it's also very humbling.’ He added, ‘I think it's important for composers not to obsess about what they've been nominated for or not, but anybody endeavouring to do something and getting recognition for it is naturally really thrilled.’