Mortier Awards 2025 – Award winners announced

The winners of the Mortier Awards 2025 have been announced: The Ruhrtriennale warmly congratulates conductor Hartmut Haenchen, recipient of the Mortier Award (Lifetime Achievement Award), and director Frieda Lange, recipient of the Mortier Next Generation Award (Emerging Talent Prize). Both artists will be honored on 21 September 2025 at 1 pm at Jahrhunderthalle Bochum, in the presence of Ina Brandes, Minister of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The ceremony will be followed by a panel discussion with both artists as part of the Brave New Voices series, focusing on the theme of artistic freedom.

The Mortier Award (Lifetime Achievement Award) is presented to outstanding figures in international cultural life in recognition of a lifetime’s work that embodies the spirit and ideas of Gerard Mortier. In the jury’s statement, Albrecht Thiemann, Chair of the Mortier Awards Association, writes: "Hartmut Haenchen is a passionate boundary-crosser who reinterprets the seemingly familiar from the margins and challenges tradition with a fresh perspective. A kindred spirit of Mortier, who entrusted him with major productions in Paris and Madrid. An open, unflinching mind, shaped by the fault lines between East and West, history and the present, imagination and intellect – unwavering in his belief in the transformative power of the arts."

The Next Generation Award is granted to emerging artists and supports projects and productions inspired by or continuing the vision of Gerard Mortier. Ruhrtriennale Artistic Director Ivo Van Hove on the jury’s statement: "Frieda Lange believes in the political significance of multiperspective storytelling. Her stage narratives are both moving and accessible to a broad audience. Her work reveals exceptional artistic potential and impresses with poetic vision and a strong clarity regarding physical realization."

The Mortier Awards were established to carry the legacy of the visionary theatre director Gerard Mortier (1943–2014) into the present. The awards are presented every two years. In 2025, the Ruhrtriennale will host the Mortier Awards in collaboration with the Mortier Awards Association.