Gordon Getty Receives European Culture Prize at Vienna Gala

The sold-out Vienna State Opera was all aglitter on October 20 as 1,700 enthusiastic guests attended the annual European Cultural Prize Gala. Launched by the European Cultural Forum in 2011, the European Culture Prize has become one of Europe’s most distinguished awards, acknowledging extraordinary achievements in arts and culture. Getty was recognized for the breadth of his contributions to classical music both as a composer and as a philanthropist. The event was televised throughout Europe.

Honorees joining Gordon Getty included film legend Sophia Loren, soprano Nina Stemme, designer Vivienne Westwood, and baritone Thomas Hampson, among others. Getty was introduced by the New Century Chamber Orchestra’s Music Director, violinist Daniel Hope, who described the passion, sensitivity and keen attention with which the composer listens to music. “Have you ever seen a person cry - because he has listened to the music? One of these people, so sensitive, so dedicated, so completely dissolved in sound?”

Hope also performed, along with pianist Jacques Ammon, Getty’s piece “The Fiddler of Ballykeel,” one of the composer’s Four Traditional Pieces.


Read an article describing the event.from Silicon Valley Classical Voice