Deutschlandfunk young musicians‘ award presented to Katharina Morin

On Sunday 23 August, Musikfest Bremen held a private reception on the Great Auditorium stage to present the Musikfest Prize to Quatuor Ebène and this year's »Förderpreis Deutschlandfunk« young musicians' award to conductor Katharina Morin. In her laudatory speech, Wibke Gerking, head of the music department at Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandfunk Kultur, highlighted the laureate’s strengths. Katharina Morin stands out through her analytical approach and her communication with the musicians during her performances. She has an eye for the details that make an immediate impact, and her expressive conducting inspires musicians during concerts. Gerking also emphasised Morin’s down-to-earth nature, noting that, rather than being hastily lured by overly ambitious engagements, Morin made a conscious decision last year to continue gaining valuable experience in day-to-day work as assistant to the General Music Director at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, despite there being certainly still room for improvement when it comes to the recognition of female conductors. In her acceptance speech, Katharina Morin said that she was indeed surprised by the award, even though her colleagues in the Deutschlandfunk music department had quietly and encouragingly followed her career since she won third prize at the La Maestra conducting competition in Paris in 2024. She sees her primary task as a conductor as attuning to the musicians and working with them to develop a sound with depth that has the power to move people. For her, the most beautiful aspect of conducting is creating a space in which everyone can find a common path to serve both the music and the people.