Lebanese musician Layale Chaker wins the Ruth Anderson (IAWM) 2017 Competition Prize

The International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM) has selected winners of its 2017 Search for New Music Competition. The competition recognizes the accomplishments of IAWM member composers and fosters IAWM’s goal of increasing awareness of the musical contributions of women.

IAWM 2017 Ruth Anderson Prize winner is Lebanese violinist Layale Chaker for 'Borderland : Rites of Passage'.

Layale Chaker's first encounter with music came through piano and voice, but she soon fell in love with the violin, starting studies at the National Higher Conservatory of Beirut in her native Lebanon. After graduating with a literature and philosophy degree, she later pursued her musical studies at the Paris CRR Conservatoire, and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Layale has appeared as a performer and composer in projects around Europe, North and South America, Asia and the Middle East, and festivals such as Lucerne Festival, Beethoven Festival Bonn and Avignon Festival among others. As a member of Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan, she performs around the year in concert halls such as the Royal Albert Hall, Teatro Colon, Salzburg Festspiele and der Philharmonie Berlin among others. Her compositions include works for solo instrumentation, chamber music, symphony orchestra, string orchestra, electronics, as well as several pieces for dance and film.

Other winners in the various categories are:

2017 Christine Clark/Theodore Front Prize

Winner: Hilary Purrington

2017 Miriam Gideon Prize

Winner: Veronika Krausas

2017 Libby Larsen Prize

Winner: Jihyun Kim

2017 Pauline Oliveros New Genre Prize

Winner: Kaley Lane Eaton

2017 PatsyLu Prize

Winner: Victoria Malawey

2017 Judith Lang Zaimont Prize

Winner: Sonja Mutić

The judges were Dr. Mara Gibson, Dr. Tonia Ko and Dr. Tawnie Olson. Dr. Ingrid Stölzel served as chair of the competition.