Vaclev Havel, 1997 Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, has died. 

The jury that conferred the award on him was chaired by Domingo Garcia y Sabell and made up of Carlos Luis Álvarez, Adela Cortina, Alejandro Fernández de Araoz y Marañón, Javier Gómez Cuesta, Javier González Ferrari, Miguel Ángel Gozalo, Juan Luis Iglesias Prada, José María Martín Patino, Hans Meinke, Manuel Olivencia, Ricardo Senabre, Jesús de la Serna and Román Suárez Blanco.

As the minutes of the Jury reflect, Vaclav Havel, then president of the Czech Republic, “in addition to being an internationally recognized poet, playwright and essayist, has incorporated moral principles into politics while making a steady and practical appeal to civil commitments above ideological ones. His freedom of thought and intellectual clarity have led him to place political aims at the service of that which is securely in the background: human spirituality and conscience. His contribution to Europe, the building of a productive and democratic peace between Czechs and Slovaks, is one of the most brilliant chapters in modern history”.

The Awards Ceremony took place on 24^th October and was presided over by H.R.H. the Prince of Asturias. The speeches at the ceremony were given by Álvaro Mutis, Vaclav Havel, the President of Guatemala at the time, Álvaro Arzú, Yehudi Menuhin, the President of the Foundation at the time, José Ramón Álvarez Rendueles, and H.R.H. Felipe de Borbón.

Further information

• The Choir
• The Messiah
• Video

As is now traditional, the Prince of Asturias Foundation Choir performed Handel’s “Messiah” at Oviedo Cathedral alongside the Principality of Asturias Symphonic Orchestra.

The European Parliament praised the Choir in 2007 for “their outstanding contribution to bolster European integration”.

The Prince of Asturias Foundation Choir, accompanied by the Principality of Asturias Symphonic Orchestra (OSPA) and under the baton of Jonas Alber, performed Handel’s Messiah for the twenty-sixth year now, on Thursday, 22^nd December at Oviedo Cathedral, at 8pm.

Under the title “Europe Hails Christmas: The Messiah”, the soloists taking part were Maria Espada (soprano), the Cristina Faus (mezzo-soprano), Agustin Prunell-Friend (tenor) and Alfredo Garcia (baritone).

The Messiah, a masterpiece of symphonic-choral music, has become the most renowned oratorio by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). This piece for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, choir of four voices and orchestra was composed between 22^nd August and 14^th September 1741, with libretto by Charles Jennes following the biblical text. The first public concert of The Messiah was held on 10^th April 1742, four days before its opening at Dublin’s William Neal Music Hall. The piece is divided into three parts that form the liturgical year, through the different stages in the life and death of Christ.

Jonas Alber (Offenburg, Germany) studied violin and conducting in Freiburg and at the Vienna Musikhochschule. He was awarded a scholarship by the Herbert von Karajan Foundation and was appointed general music director of the Staatsoper in Braunschweig in 1998, becoming the youngest German director to obtain this position, which he held until 2007.

As a symphonic director, Jonas Alber has been invited to conduct major orchestras such as the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, the Dresdner Philharmoniker, the Hamburger Symphoniker, the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Tonkünstlerorchester Niederösterreichische, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the London BBC Symphony, among others.  In the operatic field, he has conducted more than five hundred performances of forty different operas from all periods: Mozart, Puccini, Richard Strauss, Zemlinsky, Korngold, Janacek and Wagner’s tetralogy. He has collaborated with opera houses such as the Vienna Volksoper, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Dresden Semper Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Hamburgische Staatsoper and the Pretoria State Theater in South Africa.

His numerous recordings include Schumann’s entire symphonic oeuvre, as well as selected works by Mendelssohn, Franck, Sibelius, Richard Strauss and Mahler. In 2008, he won the prestigious Diapason d’Or Prize for his recording of Benoit Mernier’s opera Frühlings Erwachen.

The Principality of Asturias Symphony Orchestra (OSPA) is composed of sixty-nine music teachers from several European Union countries, Russia, the USA and Latin America. Its main activity revolves around the concert seasons held each year in Oviedo, Gijón and Avilés. Some of the most important soloists and conductors on the international scene have performed with the orchestra, alongside its designate conductors Jesse Levine and Maximiano Valdes, the latter of whom conducted the ensemble for the last sixteen years. Standing out among its international tours is the one it made to Chile and Mexico in 1996. Two years later, it returned to Chile and also participated in the Lorient Celtic Festival in France. The OSPA returned to Mexico in 2007 to great critical acclaim. In the 2007/2008 season, it also travelled to China within the “Year of Spain” activities held there.

Further information

• Presentation of nomination
• Regulations
• 2011 Laureates

Thousands of pamphlets are distributed worldwide.

Candidatures may also be presented via the Foundation’s website.

The period for presenting candidatures for the 2012 Prince of Asturias Awards, which are now being held for the thirty second time, is now open.

The Foundation will distribute the pamphlet containing the official announcement for candidatures and rules for the Awards. Candidacies may now also be presented via the web page of the Foundation (www.fpa.es).

As in previous years, the regulations are sent to research centres, academies, universities, the diplomatic corps and major figures world-wide as well as the laureates from previous editions. Thousands of pamphlets are mailed in Spain and distributed by special courier service elsewhere.

By Internet

Proposals can be sent to the Foundation's head office by mail or e-mail (fpa@fpa.es). Full information in Spanish and English on the institution, its history, activities, laureates and so forth can be accessed at this Foundation's own server (www.fpa.es). The official announcement for candidatures and the rules are also available there in French, German and Portuguese.

Prince of Asturias Awards

There are eight Prince of Asturias Awards: Communication and Humanities, the Arts, Literature, Social Sciences, Technical and Scientific Research, International Cooperation, Sports and Concord. They are intended, to quote the Foundations Statutes, “to reward the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanistic work performed by individuals, groups, or institutions world-wide.”

The deadline for proposing candidates is March 15^th 2011. This date is extended till July 19^th for the Concord and Sports Awards.
Each of the Prince of Asturias Awards has its own jury, made up of specialists in the area, with the exception of the Concord Award jury, which is made up of the Patrons of the Prince of Asturias Foundation.
Since the Prince of Asturias Awards were inaugurated in 1981 they have acquired considerable international prestige. The grand presentation ceremony is traditionally held in autumn at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, the capital of the Principality of Asturias. It is presided over by H.R.H. the Prince of Asturias, accompanied by H.R.H. the Princess of Asturias and is attended by outstanding figures from national and international social and cultural circles.

Each of the eight Prince of Asturias Awards comprises a diploma, a Joan Miró sculpture representing and symbolising the Awards, an insignia bearing the Foundation’s coat of arms, and a cash prize of €50,000. 

T.R.H The Prince and Princess of Asturias presided over the Closing Concert at the XX Music Week, organised by the Prince of Asturias Foundation and Cajastur, which took place on Thursday, October 20, at 8,00 pm in the Príncipe Felipe Auditorium in Oviedo. The maestro Riccardo Muti, 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, conducted this concert, entrance to which was by invitation only.

The Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, made up of young instrumentalists from all over Italy and the Prince of Asturias Foundation Choir interpreted the  Réquiem en Do menor by Luigi Cherubini.

Riccardo Muti

Riccardo Muti was born in Naples (Italy). He studied piano at the San Pietro Conservatory, in Majella, and composition and orchestral conducting at the “Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory” in Milan. In 1967, after winning the Guido Cantelli award, his career acquired international fame. He was the conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (1968-1980). From 1972 to1982 he was the main conductor for the London Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1980 to 1992 he was the Musical Director for the Philadelphia Orchestra.

He was Musical Director for the Scala Theatre from 1986 to 2005 and he conducted such important projects as the Mozart-De Ponte Trilogy and Wagner´s Ring Cycle. Together with the classics in the repertoire, he brought to light works which are not interpreted so much, among others, from the 18^th Century Napolitan School, as well as operas by Gluck, Cherubini, Spontini or Poulenc. This long period as Musical Director at La Scala reached its climax on December 7, 2004 with the triumphal reopening of the restored theatre with the work Europa riconosciuta by Antonio Salieri. During his career, Riccardo Muti has conducted most of the important orchestras, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the French National Orchestra or the Vienna Philharmonic. In April, 2003, the National French radio station, France Musique, broadcast a Journée Riccardo Muti, 14 hours of opera and symphonic recordings with all the orchestras that he has conducted. On December 14, he also conducted the opening concert of the renovated La Fenice Theatre in Venice.

In 2004, Muti founded the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, made up of selected young musicians from all over Italy. Muti’s many recording activities have been recognised in the shape of numerous awards and extend from the symphonic and classical opera repertoire to contemporary 20th Century Works.  His first recording with the Chicago Symphonic Orchestra and Choir was Verdi’s Misa de Réquiem, carried out during live performances in January, 2009 and published by the CSO Resound record label in September, 2010.

Guest conductor at the Salzburg Festival and the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics from 1971, he is  doctor honoris causa at eleven universities and member of the  Santa Cecilia (Rome), Luigi Cherubini (Florence) Academies and the Bolonia Philharmonic. Knight Grand Cross in Italy and Knight of the British Empire, he is Commander of the Order of Malta and has been decorated with the Legion of Honour in France and the Order of Friendship in Russia. Among other awards, he has received the Silver Medal of Merit from the Austrian Republic, the Wolf Foundation Award for Arts (Israel, 2000) and the 2011 Birgit Nilsson Award. In April, 2011 he was honoured at the VI edition of the Opera News yearly awards.

Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra

Founded by Riccardo Muti in 2004 and with its headquarters in Piacenza, the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra is made up of musicians, less than 30 years old, selected by a commission of soloists from prestigious European orchestra from among 600 instrumentalists from all over Italy. The distinctive traits of this orchestra are its dynamism and continual renewal, in such a way that its members are only appointed for a period of three years.

Recently, conducted by Riccardo Muti, the Orchestra has interpreted a repertoire which ranges from the Baroque to 20th Century music, alternating concerts in various Italian cities with important European tours in the Vienna, Paris, Moscow, Salzburg, Cologne and Saint Petersburg theatres, among others.

Besides this intense activity while conducted by its founder ,the Orchestra has collaborated with other artists such as Claudio Abbado, John Axelrod, Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Fournillier, Lang Lang, Kurt Masur or Krzysztof Penderecki, 2001 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts. In 2007, the group played a leading role in a project at the Whitsun Festival in Salzburg and the Ravenna Festival aimed at rediscovering the heritage of the Napolitan School of music from the 18^thcentury. In 2008, the group received the Abbiati Award for the best musical Project for “the outstanding achievements which have made the Cherubini Youth Orchestra into an excellent group appreciated both at home and abroad”.

Prince of Asturias Foundation Choir

Created in 1983 and conducted by José Esteban G. Miranda, it is considered to be one of the most important amateur groups in Europe and is critically acclaimed in the international field. Since it was created, Jesús López Cobos, 1981 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, has been the honorary conductor of the choirs, a position which he shares at the present time with Krzysztof Penderecki, who received the same award in 2001 . In December, 2007, the European Parliament honoured the Choir with an extraordinary recognition “for its outstanding service in favour of the European Union”.

It has made successful tours around Europe and held concerts in Russia together with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Moscow Virtuosos. Its performance in 1993 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, together with the English Chamber Orchestra was outstanding. In 2001, it visited the United States for the first time and the Washington Post critic classed them as “magnificent”. In December, 2002, the Foundation represented Spain at the Vatican on the occasion of the Immaculate Conception Festivity, with three concerts in Rome. In October, 2003, the Choir gave two historic concerts in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and the Lincoln Centre in New York on the occasion of the celebrations of Columbus Day. It was also invited to take part at the wedding of T.R.H the Prince and Princess of Asturias. The group performed at the Royal Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha during the traditional offering of the bride’s bouquet to the Virgin.

In October, 2005, they interpreted Verdi’s  Réquiem together with the Donostiarra Choral Society, 1984 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, and the Principality of Asturias Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the maestro Jesús López Cobos. In March, 2006, in Brazil, they inaugurated the Symphony Orchestra Season in the State of São Paulo in the most important concert hall in Latin America, the emblematic Estación Júlio Prestes, conducted by John Neschling, together with the São Paulo Choir and Symphony Orchestra.

In April, 2007, under the title “Penderecki conducts Penderecki”, the Foundation Choir came under this great conductor to interpret his most recent composition, Sinfonía n.º 8. Canciones de lo efímero. In June, 2007, it took part in the XVI edition of the International Nafplion Music Festival in Greece. In October, 2008, the Choir interpreted G. Mahler’ Symphony No 2. Resurrection, together with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra from the Venezuela National Youth Orchestra System (2008 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts), conducted by the maestro Gustavo Dudamel. In November, the choir travelled to Belgium where it gave two concerts, one in the European Parliament during the inauguration of the Jean Monnet Conferences and the other at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

In October, 2009, it gave a concert version of the opera by Manuel de Falla La vida breve and in February, 2010, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by Mendelssohn. In April the same year, they went to Portugal to take part in the cycle of concerts “Días da Música” at the Belém Cultural Centre. In 2011, the Choir travelled to Mexico for the first time, invited by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, to take part in the closing ceremony of the UNAM (OFUNAM) Philharmonic Orchestra season. They also gave two concerts at the Asturian Centre and at the Residence of the Spanish Ambassador

The concert brought to an end the XX Music Week, organised by the Prince of Asturias Foundation and Cajastur. Since October 14, there have been a total of nineteen performances in eleven Asturian towns: Oviedo, Gijón, Avilés, Mieres, Cangas de Onís, Infiesto, Moreda, Pola de Lena, Ribadesella, Sotrondio and Vegadeo.

Groups of very different musical registers took part in this cycle such as the Wanderer Duo with piano for four hands; AMORES, a percussion group; the mediaeval music Ensemble, Eloqventia; the Baroque music group Forma Antiqva; or the winners of the End of Studies Prize “Ángel Muñiz Toca” from the “Eduardo Martínez Torner” Music Conservatory from the Principality of Asturias, among others.

20.00 p.m.       T.R.H. The Prince and Princess of Asturias will chair the closing concert of the XX Music Week, organized by the Prince of Asturias Foundation and Cajastur. The concert will be held at the Prince Felipe Auditorium in Oviedo. Maestro Riccardo Mutti will conduct this concert. An invitation is required to access.

FRIDAY, 21^st OCTOBE

12.30 p.m.       Audiences at the “Covadonga Room” in the Reconquista Hotel:

T.R.H The Prince and the Princess of Asturias will meet the Juries' chairpersons, the members of the Prince of Asturias Foundation Board of Trustees and the 2011 Prince of Asturias Awards Laureates.

Press pool.

6.30 p.m.         2010 Prince of Asturias Awards Presentation Ceremony.

Press Pool.

SATURDAY, 22^nd OCTOBER

12.00 p.m        Visit to San Tirso de Abres.

Audio outputs will be available to the media at all the activities surrounding the Awards.

The press conferences given by the Laureates will be broadcast over the Internet.

The Spanish public service television and radio companies Televisión Española (TVE) and Radio Nacional de España (RNE) will be responsible for providing the official host signal for the Prince of Asturias Awards Ceremony, which is to be held on Friday, 21^st October starting at 6.30 p.m. at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo. TVE will also be providing the television signal for the audience of T.R.H. the Prince and Princess of Asturias with the Laureates this coming Friday at 12.30 p.m. at the Reconquista Hotel’s Salón Covadonga.

RNE will provide the audio signal from the dressing rooms in the Campoamor Theatre to all the radio networks, while TVE will distribute the television signal. Media interested in using the official signal should get in touch beforehand with:

- National signal:

Telephone: 91 346 84 12 and Fax: 91 346 83 06.

- International signal:

Telephone: + 41 22 71 72 822

www.eurovision.net/wf/worldfeeds.php

worldfeed@eurovision.net

Telephone: +34 91 346 81 18

- Local signal: Maria Alonso

Telephone: 985 10 09 69 and Fax: 985 10 09 91.

The areas specially designated for the editors at the Campoamor Theatre will be Main Boxes nos. 11 and 13 in the Dress Circle. Due to the limited space available, you are advised to follow the ceremony from the screens situated at the press office.

The signal for the events featuring Howard Gardner, The Royal Society and Leonard Cohen

The Foundation will facilitate the signal to all those media interested in covering the following events:

- The talk between Howard Gardner, 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, and Eduard Punset at the Palacio Valdés Theatre in Avilés this coming Tuesday, 18^th October, starting at 7.30 p.m..

- The scientific meeting between the President of The Royal Society, Sir Paul Nurse (Nobel Prize for Medicine 2001) and Rafael Rodrigo, President of CSIC, on Wednesday, 19^th October at 7.30 p.m. in the University of Oviedo Historic Building’s “Paraninfo” Hall.

- The tribute to Leonard Cohen, 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, which will also be held on Wednesday, 19^th October at 8.00 p.m. at the Jovellanos Theatre in Gijón. 

The Foundation will also place at the media’s disposal an image (video BNC outputs) and audio (Canon XLR and Mini-jack outputs) distributor.

The media will have free access to the remainder of the Awards Week activities that are to take place in Oviedo and Gijón. They will have audio outputs (Canon XLR and Mini-jack) at their disposal, as well as a specially designated area for TV cameras.

All the press conferences given by the Laureates will be broadcast over the Foundation’s website.

Further information

• Speech by H.R.H the Prince of Asturias
• Speech by Arturo Álvarez-Buylla
• Words by Toyohiko Tomioka
• 2011 Laureates

A simultaneous translation service in five languages was provided for the awards ceremony at the Campoamor Theatre.

The event took place on Friday 21^st October at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo.

Leonard Cohen, Prince of Asturias Award for Literature; Arturo Álvarez-Buylla, one of the three laureates of the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research; and Riccardo Muti, Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, delivered speeches at the 31^st  Prince of Asturias Awards Ceremony. The event took place on Friday 21st October at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo.

The Foundation’s President, Matías Rodríguez Inciarte, and H.R.H. the Prince of Asturias also delivered speeches during the ceremony.

A simultaneous translation service in five languages was provided for the awards ceremony at the Campoamor Theatre. The Prince of Asturias Foundation provided 1,600 receivers to the audience. Those attending the event could listen to the laureates’ speeches in English, French, Italian and Japanese, as well as in Spanish.

Further information

• Arrival of the Laureates
• Press conferences
• 2011 Laureates

Bill Drayton will hold a meeting this coming Thursday with prisoners in Villabona Prison Therapeutic and Educational Unit.

This Thursday, the Exhibition “Transactions. Spain in the history of The Royal Society” opened the programme of activities for the 2011 Prince of Asturias Awards prior to the Awards Ceremony itself. From 12 noon on, the University of Oviedo Historic Building Library will house this exhibition which has been jointly organised by the academic institution and the Prince of Asturias Foundation and which will bring together more than one hundred original exhibits of great historical and scientific value, such as the first ever microscope, histological drawings by Ramon y Cajal and the map of Colombia drawn by Felipe Bauza during the Malaspina expedition.

The exhibition on The Royal Society, the organisation conferred with the 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, will be open until 13th November between 11:00 am and 2:30 pm and from 5:00 pm to 8:30 pm  from Monday to Saturday and between 11:00 and 14:00 on Sundays.

The official opening of the exhibition will take place this coming Wednesday, 19^th October at 19:00 in the University of Oviedo’s Historical Building. The organisation of the exhibition has benefitted from the collaboration of The Royal Society, the City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia, the Cajal-CSIC Institute, the National Geographic Institute, the Hydrographic Institute of the Spanish Navy, the Spanish National Museum of Natural Sciences-CSIC, the Seville Royal Academy of Medicine, the Madrid Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country, Juan Fernandez Santaren, Antonio Garcia Bellido and Santiago Ramon y Cajal’s heirs.

At 19:30 that same day, the President of The Royal Society, Sir Paul Nurse (Nobel Prize for Medicine 2001) and Rafael Rodrigo, President of CSIC, will discuss some of the major questions of the science of the future in a meeting chaired by the scientist Cesar Nombela, an Awards Jury member. The event will be held at the University of Oviedo Historic Building Auditorium (the “Paraninfo”) and admission will be free until all seats are taken.

On Tuesday 18th October, the neuroscientists bestowed with the 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research will take part in a meeting at the Cajastur Cultural Centre in Oviedo. Joseph Altman, Giacomo Rizzolatti and Arturo Alvarez-Buylla will outline their main lines of research and will participate in a panel discussion chaired by Manuel Toharia, director of the Prince Felipe Science Museum in Valencia and member of the jury that conferred the award. The event will be at 19:30 and admission will be free until all seats are taken.

Events scheduled for Thursday

The delegation of the “Heroes of Fukushima”, Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, will be given two receptions by Asturian authorities on Thursday, 20th October. The first of these will take place at 13:15 at the Regional Parliament (Junta General del Principado de Asturias). At 17:00, they will take part in a reception at Gijón City Hall. The representatives attending these receptions form part of the Nuclear Disaster Response Team: Colonel Iwakuma Shinji and Lieutenant Colonel Kenji Kato, from the Self-Defense Forces; Superintendents Yoshitsugu Oigawa and Masami Watanabe, from the National Police Force; and Captain Toyohiko Tomioka, from the Fire Brigade.

At 16:30 that same day, Bill Drayton, Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation, will visit the Therapeutic and Educational Unit at Villabona Prison, a pioneering project in the Spanish prison system led by Faustino Zapico, an Ashoka social entrepreneur. Drayton will meet with the inmates participating in this programme.

He will then go on to the municipality of Langreo to meet at 18:30 with students belonging to the “Young Social Entrepreneurs” developed by Valnalon and led by Jose Manuel Perez (Pericles), an Ashoka social entrepreneur. He will also visit an outdoor exhibition at the “Nuevo Teatro” in La Felguera depicting the projects developed by students during the past year, the profits of which go to a school in a developing country.

Finally, the Prince Felipe Auditorium in Oviedo will host the finale concert of the XX Music Week, which will bring the programme of activities that precede the Awards Ceremony to a close.  Starting at 20:00, Maestro Riccardo Muti, 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, will conduct the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra and the Prince of Asturias Foundation Choir, who will perform Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor.

Breakfast meetings

In addition to the scheduled events in the programme, the scientists Arturo Alvarez-Buylla and Giacomo Rizzolatti, co-Laureates of the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, and the psychologist Howard Gardner, who will receive this year’s Award for Social Sciences, will participate in three breakfast meetings with experts in their respective disciplines belonging to research centres and universities from all over Spain.

Further information

• Arrival of the Laureates
• Programme of activities
• 2011 Laureates

During their stay in Asturias, the 2011 Prince of Asturias Awards Laureates will attend a series of events as well as meeting the press on a number of occasions. The timetable for the press conferences is as follows.

All press conferences will be held in the “Salón de Proyecciones” at the Reconquista Hotel (entrance c/ Arquitecto Reguera).

TUESDAY, 18^th OCTOBER

4.00 pm   Arturo Álvarez-Buylla, Joseph Altman and Giacomo Rizzolatti. Prince of Asturias Award Laureates for Technical and Scientific Research.

5.30 pm   Howard Gardner. Prince of Asturias Award Laureate for Social Sciences.

WEDNESDAY, 19^th OCTOBER

12 noon   Leonard Cohen. Prince of Asturias Award Laureate for Literature.

6.15 pm - Sir Paul Nurse and Julie Maxton, President and Executive Director of The Royal Society, Prince of Asturias Award for Communications and Humanities.

THURSDAY, 20^th OCTOBER

12 noon  Bill Drayton. Prince of Asturias Award Laureate for International Cooperation.

1.30 pm  Haile Gebrselassie. Prince of Asturias Award Laureate for Sports.

FRIDAY, 21^st OCTOBER

10.30 am    The “Heroes Of Fukushima”, Prince Of Asturias Award For Concord: The Japanese delegation will be composed of representatives of the Nuclear Disaster Response Team: Colonel Iwakuma Shinji and Lieutenant Colonel Kenji Kato, from the Self-Defense Forces; Superintendents Yoshitsugu Oigawa and Masami Watanabe, from the National Police Force; and Captain Toyohiko Tomioka, from the Fire Brigade. They will be accompanied by Japan’s Ambassador to Spain, Saturo Satoh.

NOTE: The programme is subject to change

That same day, tickets for the talk between Howard Gardner and Eduard Punset were given out at the “Casa de Culture” in Avilés.  

Tickets for the tribute to Leonard Cohen, which will count on the presence of the Canadian writer and musician conferred with the 2011 Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature, may be picked up from the Jovellanos Theatre box offices from Saturday, 15^th October onwards, from 12:00 to 14:00 and from 17:30 to 20:00. A maximum of two tickets were given out per person.

The Prince of Asturias Foundation make 740 seats available to the public free of charge for this event, which will be held next Wednesday 19^th October. The doors to the Jovellanos Theatre will close at 19:30.

The Foundation will pay tribute to Leonard Cohen through this event at which the Spanish guitar and poetry will take centre stage. The meeting, structured along three lines, will address the literary and poetic figure of Cohen in addition to his relation with Spain, symbolised through his admiration for Federico Garcia Lorca and flamenco. The event will also highlight his influence over young musicians, with special emphasis on the work of the Asturian singer-songwriter Nacho Vegas and the generation of pop-rock groups from the early 90s, known as the Xixón Sound, who, while based in the city of Gijón, became very famous on the Spanish music scene.

Artists and writers representing these three facets will participate in the event. These also include the Spanish guitarist Javier Mas and the Webb Sisters, who accompany Cohen on tour, the flamenco singer Duquende, the Irish singer and guitarist Glen Hansard, winner of a Grammy Award in 2007, and the Prince of Asturias Foundation Youth Choir. The literary critic Andres Amoros and Laura Garcia Lorca, the poet’s niece and president of the Federico Garcia Lorca Foundation, will also participate in the event, which will be presented by Fany Alvarez, member of the group from Gijón “Elle Belga”.

On Thursday 20^th at 12:30, Cohen will also attend the opening of an exhibition of his prints, which will be on show in the “Aulario A” lecture halls building on the University of Oviedo Humanities Campus under the title “Leonard Cohen. The B-side. Drawings and engravings of a multidisciplinary artist”. The exhibition will be open until 13^th November.

A Meeting with Howard Gardner

On Tuesday 18^th October, the American psychologist Howard Gardner, 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, will take part in a talk at the Palacio Valdes Theatre in Avilés with Eduard Punset, jury member for the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research. The event, which will commence at 19:30, will also feature the speech therapist Jorge Ruiz, leader of the musical group “Maldita Nerea”, who will perform the song “En el mundo genial de las cosas que dices” (“In the Fantastic World of the Things You Say”), from their latest album Fácil (Easy). Questions may be submitted via the Avilés City Council website.

Tickets (two per person) may be picked up from the “Casa de Cultura” box offices in Avilés from last Saturday, 15^th October onwards, from 11:00 to 14;00 and on Monday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 21:00.