The late David J Azrieli’s story is one of tragedy, survival and heroism. As a young boy, he fled the Nazis from his native Poland to the Soviet Union and then Iran, Iraq, British-mandated Palestine and Canada. After WWII ended, he discovered that he and his brother were the sole survivors from his family.

Yet a bright future awaited the determined Azrieli, who eventually became a visionary builder, developer and philanthropist in both Canada and Israel.

The Azrieli Foundation, established by David in 1989, is now the largest foundation in Canada, supporting eight priority funding areas. Music and the Arts is one of those key areas, with the Azrieli Music Prizes (AMP) as its cornerstone program.

Established in 2014, the Azrieli Music Prizes are awarded biennially, offering opportunities for the creation, discovery, performance and celebration of excellence in music composition.

The first two prizes recognize excellence in new Jewish music. New this year is a third prize that will commission an original Canadian composition. All three of the winning works must be written for a chamber ensemble of up to 14 players. Composers may also choose to add two soloists.

Dr Sharon Azrieli, who conceived of the prizes and is a Director on the Azrieli Foundation Board, says, 'We created these prizes because we realized that there were too few opportunities that encourage composers to create major concert works. We also want to legitimatize truly innovative responses to the questions, "What is Jewish music?" and "What is Canadian music?"'

She continues, 'With AMP, we are celebrating excellence in new music on the world stage. In 2016 and 2018, we had entrants from across the globe. Given our past success, I expect the submissions for 2020 will be even more impressive.'

Composers will compete for one of three prizes, each offering a cash award of $50,000 CAD, a live performance by Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne at the AMP Gala Concert in Montreal in 2020, and a commercial recording on the multi-award-winning Analekta label. The winning works will also be performed at an international concert organized by the Azrieli Foundation. Each prize is valued at over $200,000 CAD per composer, placing AMP among the most significant composition competitions in the world and the most generous in Canada.

The prizes are open to composers from any faith, age, affiliation or background. The Canadian prize is open to Canadian composers; the Jewish prizes are open to composers from any country.

AMP encourages composers to follow their curiosity in exploring the Prizes’ themes. 2018 Prize Laureate Kelly-Marie Murphy became fascinated with Sephardic music and its spread throughout the diaspora. Despite having no previous experience with Jewish music, her careful and respectful research fueled her curiosity and, in turn, allowed her to capture the imaginations of the AMP judges. Her Prize-winning work, a double concerto for cello and harp, explores Sephardi folk songs and their myriad tales as they move through musical and cultural influences spanning across borders and ages.

The vision of the Azrieli Foundation is to remember the past, heal the present and enhance the future. AMP brings all three of these elements together. The winning composers, in creating their music, acknowledge and honour Jewish and Canadian history. By listening to the compositions, audiences are 'healed' by the outstanding music. Finally, through the recording of the pieces, AMP ensures that these exceptional compositions will continue to enhance our future.

No doubt David Azrieli would be proud of this legacy.

For more information, please visit: azrielifoundation.org