Professor Peter Sellars, a director of opera, theatre and films in UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, has been named a 2014 Polar Music Prize laureate. The international music award, founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson of the Swedish music group ABBA, annually recognizes two individuals, groups or institutions for their exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music. Also receiving the 2014 prize is pioneering rock guitarist Chuck Berry. Previous recipients have included Yo-Yo Ma, Patti Smith, Keith Jarrett and Ravi Shankar. Sellars and Berry will receive the prize on August 26 from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at a gala ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall.
Sellars has also been invited to serve as the English National Opera’s director-in residence during the London company’s 2014-15 season. He will lead two works: John Adams’ “The Gospel According to the Other Mary” and the UK’s first fully-staged production of Purcell’s “The Indian Queen,” which both give a strong voice to women, against a backdrop of violence and unrest, in tales traditionally told by men. During his five-month residency, he will also take part in a series of community projects inspired by the themes and ideas in the two productions.
In October, the Park Avenue Armory in New York City will honor Sellars, who will direct J.S. Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion, “taking a radically inclusive approach that eliminates the separation between artist and audience,” the program says of the production, which premiered in 2010 at the Berlin Philharmonie. “There are no spectators, only observers and participants — with musicians and singers moving amongst each other.”
