Hungarian conductor shares prize with former Beatle

Hungarian conductor Ádám Fischer has been named – along with former Beatle Paul McCartney – as the recipient of Israel’s prestigious Wolf Prize in the music category. The Wolf Foundation called Ádám Fischer “an inspirational conductor and eloquent defender of human rights,” while McCartney “is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.”

The 2018 winners were announced this week along with laureates in the fields of chemistry, agriculture, mathematics and physics. Since 1978, the prestigious prize has been awarded annually to outstanding artists and scientists in these five fields for their achievements for the benefit of mankind. About three dozen winners have gone on to receive Nobel prizes.

69-year-old Ádám Fischer, who is the general music director of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, the chief conductor of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra, and the chief conductor of the Düsseldorf Symphony, was suggested for the prize by the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where he had graduated.

In their praise of the Hungarian conductor, the Foundation highlighted that “his support of human rights, and in particular, his protest against the political developments in his native Hungary, make him an artist of exemplary integrity – a quality that shapes his interpretations as well as the morality of his stance. The Wolf Foundation is proud to recognize in Ádám Fischer a musical leader beloved around the world, whose aspirations serve as an inspiration to us all.”

Laureates receive their award – and a prize money of USD 100,000 for each field – from the President of the State of Israel at a special ceremony at the Knesset building in Jerusalem in May this year.