PRESS RELEASE ON THE POLAR MUSIC PRIZE 2003

PRESS RELEASE ON THE POLAR MUSIC PRIZE 2003 The POLAR MUSIC PRIZE will be presented on Monday for the twelfth consecutive year. The prizewinner this year is Keith Jarrett. The prize money is one million Swedish Crowns (approx US$ 125.000 or ? 110.000). Keith Jarrett will receive his prize from His Majesty The King of Sweden during a nationally-televised ceremony at Berwaldhallen, Stockholm. Her Majesty The Queen, HRH Crown Princess Victoria, HRH Princess Lilian, Deputy Prime Minister Margareta Winberg and Foreign Minister Anna Lindh will also join the many dignitaries and celebrities from industry, show business and media attending the event. The Polar Music Prize is the world's most unique and prestigious prize and was founded by Stig "Stikkan" Anderson through the donation he gave to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Anderson created the prize to recognize and honour outstanding achievements in music, at the same time as bringing together the different worlds of music. Another vision he had is being realised more and more each year. He wanted to see a celebration of music as such by using music and musically-inspired functions lasting several days. During the weekend preceding the ceremony, Polar Music Prize Days will take place for the first time this year. At the Stockholm Cultural Centre (Kulturhuset),the general public can enjoy seminars, concerts and an exhibition on the life and career of Keith Jarrett. This year's programme shown below illustrates how Stig Anderson's visions are being realised more and more. PROGRAMME OF EVENTS SATURDAY 10th MAY 2.00 PM FORUM: KEITH JARRETT - AN IMPROVISER TRANSCENDING MUSICAL BOUNDARIES Open dialogue, interspersed with musical content, on Keith Jarrett's artistry and the idea of improvisation in a wider context. 7.00 PM CONCERT: THE NEW GENERATION OF JAZZ MUSICIANS Groups made up of the new jazz generation from The Royal University College of Music. Some of the music to be played will be from Keith Jarrett's works from the 1970's. SUNDAY 11th MAY 1.00 PM CONCERT: THE JAZZ GROUP OBLIQUE 3.00 PM OPEN DIALOGUE WITH KEITH JARRETT Keith Jarrett will tell his own story about his concerts, recordings and his music. During the whole weekend an exhibition will be held showing selected photos taken during Keith Jarrett's thirty year-long career by photographer Roberto Masotti. A number of Jarrett's record sleeves, chosen from his comprehensive catalogue, will also be available for viewing. PRESS RELEASE ON THE POLAR MUSIC PRIZE 2003 MONDAY 12th MAY 4.30 - APPROX 5.30 PM PRIZE CEREMONY It takes place in Berwaldhallen and is nationally-televised on TV4 at 10.30 PM CET. Amongst those appearing Petra Nordlund (compère), Palle Danielsson, Anders Widmark, Ulf Wakenius, Staffan Scheja, Robert Wells and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. APPROX 7.15 - APPROX 11.00 PM BANQUET The banquet takes place in the Winter Garden at Grand Hôtel, Stockholm. The entertainment to be enjoyed here will include pianist Anders Widmark and vocalist Sara Isaksson. 10.30 PM - ? POSTPRIZEGIVING PARTY PostPrizegiving Party at Berns. Traditional hot dogs, beer, wine, DJ and music. Live entertainment with performances from Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest 2003 duo Fame, Lambretta and Patrik Kolar & His Funky Friends. TUESDAY 13th MAY FROM APPROX 3.00 PM www.polarmusicprize.com The prize ceremony broadcast from Berwaldhallen and the festivities from the Winter Garden at Grand Hôtel can be viewed on our web site. From here, you can also download publicity photos and other press material. www.radio.se This internet radio station will be covering the banquet throughout the whole evening on Monday 12th May. Previous Prizewinners 1992 Sir Paul McCartney and the Baltic States (for copyright protection) 1993 Dizzy Gillespie and Witold Lutoslawski 1994 Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Quincy Jones 1995 Sir Elton John and Mstislav Rostropovitch 1996 Pierre Boulez and Joni Mitchell 1997 Eric Ericson and Bruce Springsteen 1998 Ray Charles and Ravi Shankar 1999 Stevie Wonder and Iannis Xenakis 2000 Bob Dylan and Isaac Stern 2001 Burt Bacharach, Robert Moog and Karlheinz Stockhausen 2002 Sofia Gubaidulina and Miriam Makeba ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/05/09/20030508BIT00850/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/05/09/20030508BIT00850/wkr0002.pdf