Raphaëlle Aoun receives Encouragement Award of the Academy of Arts
At this year’s ceremony in Berlin, where the Academy of Arts awarded the Busoni Composition Prize to the South African composer Njabulo Phungula, the Encouragement Award was also presented to the Lebanese composer and Eisler student Raphaëlle Aoun. The Encouragement Award carries a cash prize of 3,000 euros.
The jury consisted of Christopher Fox, Anna Korsun and Annette Schlünz, members of the Music Section of the Academy of Arts. Raphaëlle Aoun impressed the jury with the sonic sophistication of her music, as demonstrated in her ensemble work *grey olive tree* (2025) and in the chamber music composition *the scent of cents* (2025). In Raphaëlle Aoun’s work, “the sensual and abstract dimensions of music are in constant dialogue, with its sonic ‘scent’ achieved through the use of just intonation.”
The Busoni Composition Prize was established in 1988 by Aribert Reimann and is awarded every two to three years to young composers for particularly high-quality and innovative compositional approaches. This year’s award ceremony will take place on 13 November 2026 at 7.00 pm at the Academy of Arts on Pariser Platz in Berlin.
The Lebanese composer Raphaëlle Aoun was born in 2004 and has been studying for a Bachelor’s degree in composition under Prof. Samir Odeh-Tamimi at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin since 2024. She has furthered her knowledge under composers such as Helmut Zapf, Marc Sabat, Carola Bauckholt, Milica Djordjević, Gordon Kampe, Oscar Bianchi and Arnulf Herrmann.
Her works have been performed by renowned ensembles and soloists, including the Ensemble Modern, the Ensemble Musikfabrik, the Ensemble LUX:NM, the MotoContrario Ensemble, the United Instruments of Lucilin, the Art Percussion Ensemble, the Abele-Manaev Cello Duo, the Duo Tocar, Matthias Bauer and Michael Vogt. She has been selected to take part in festivals and residencies, including the Klangwerkstatt Festival Berlin, the Mixtur Festival, the Rainy Days Festival, the Akademie Kontemporär Hamburg, the Young Composers Meeting 2026 and the Precept.Concept.Percept. XIII residency programme.
Beyond her artistic endeavours, she pursues a wide range of interests and is actively committed to social diversity and dialogue. As a result, she was recently awarded the DAAD Prize 2026 of the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin.