Sara Glojnarić awarded the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize
  Sara Glojnarić awarded the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize 

At the Karajan-Akademie’s concert on 31 October 2026, Croatian composer Sara Glojnarić will receive the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize. The concert will also feature the world premiere of her new work, can you play a song with a f*cking beat?! :)).

With the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize, the Karajan Academy honours young composers and combines the award with a commission. The newly created work was tailored to the particular performing forces and artistic qualities of the academy’s scholarship holders. The première, rehearsed by the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, is overseen by the composer herself.

Sara Glojnarić, who comes from Croatia, explores pop culture and its aesthetics in her artistic practice, as well as its social and political implications. Other recurring themes in her work include nostalgia, collective memory and the complex data worlds of pop culture. Her output spans operas, orchestral and chamber music, and video art. Her works have been performed internationally by renowned ensembles and orchestras.

Glojnarić has received numerous awards for her compositions, including the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize for young composers, the Kranichstein Music Prize at the Darmstadt Summer Course, and the SWR Orchestra Prize for her piece DING, DONG, DARLING! at the 2024 Donaueschingen Festival of New Music. Most recently, she was honoured with GEMA’s German Music Authors’ Award in the category of Young Talent, Contemporary Classical Music. Alongside her compositional work, she regularly teaches at international universities.

The composition prize commemorates Claudio Abbado, chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker from 1989 to 2002. He was a key supporter of the Karajan Academy: in 2002, the Fondazione Claudio Abbado made a substantial donation to the foundation supporting the Karajan Academy, and it is also supporting this year’s awarding of the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize.