UofL's 2026 Grawemeyer music composition award goes to Liza Lim for 'A Sutured World'

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Dec. 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Australian composer Liza Lim has won the 2026 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for her visionary work "A Sutured World."

The piece was commissioned by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO)/Musica Viva, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam Cello Biennale, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Casa da Música Porto for the world-renowned cellist Nicolas Altstaedt.

"A Sutured World" premiered in October 2024 by Altstaedt and the BRSO as part of the Musica Viva Munich concert series. "I love playing this piece more and more…I believe this will be one of the great cello concertos in the future for our repertoire," Altstaedt said.

Lim is the second Australian (following 2009 laureate Brett Dean) and the sixth woman to receive the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, which has been presented annually since 1985.

"Lim's work explores themes of unity and healing," said Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition Director Matthew Ertz, music librarian and associate professor at the University of Louisville's Anderson Music Library. "Lim's ability to convey these ideas into the cellist's intricate and virtuosic passages is astounding and deeply moving."

"A Sutured World" draws on the beauty of imperfection, with Lim referencing the Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold lacquer to highlight, rather than conceal, its fractures. "The cellist weaves together contrasting worlds—the lyrical, the raw, the playful, and the absurd—each a facet of a spiritual journey," Lim said.

Lim is one of the world's most celebrated contemporary composers, with commissions, residencies and performances from leading festivals, ensembles and organizations worldwide. She holds the Sculthorpe Chair of Australian Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (University of Sydney).

In recognition of her path-opening contributions to the field, she was named the 2026 recipient of the Roche Commission. Lim is the first musician to be awarded an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship (2025–29), supporting research that addresses climate and social challenges through music.

"I hope this recognition helps to shine a light on the vital role that music can play in shaping our understanding of the world and in responding to the urgent challenges we face," Lim said. "It's both humbling and inspiring to be counted among such composers as Harrison Birtwistle, Krzysztof Penderecki and Kaija Saariaho whose work has deeply influenced my own artistic journey." 

Lim will accept her award at a ceremony in Louisville on April 14. 

About the Grawemeyer Awards
Each year the Grawemeyer Awards honor the power of creative ideas to improve our culture via music composition, world order, education, religion and psychology. Business executive and philanthropist H. Charles Grawemeyer established the awards in 1984 at the University of Louisville.
Academics and community members choose among nominees from around the world to ensure that each winning idea is both innovative and accessible. The University of Louisville and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary announce the winners in December and present the awards at a ceremony the following April. The five award winners receive $100,000 each, which they may use, if they choose, to develop and accelerate the spread of their powerful ideas. Learn more at grawemeyer.org.

Media Contact: Amanda Carroll, [email protected]

SOURCE University of Louisville