Grandmaster Flash, Mutter win 2019 Polar Music Prize
Posted Feb 13, 2019 03:06:33 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
COPENHAGEN — American rapper and DJ Grandmaster Flash, German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and international music charity Playing for Change Foundation have won Sweden’s Polar Music Prizes for 2019.
The award panel says Grandmaster Flash, born Joseph Saddler, is “rightly heralded as a hip-hop virtuoso,” and “one of the first to manipulate music by placing his fingers on the vinyl.”
It cites Grammy Award-winning Mutter for being “a musical phenomenon,” playing with “virtuosity and astonishing clarity.”
The panel said Wednesday the Playing For Change Foundation brings “peace to the world through music” and has now grown to 15 music programs globally.
All have been invited to receive their awards, including a cash prize of 1 million kronor ($107,000) each, on June 11 from members of the Swedish royal family in Stockholm.
The Associated Press
