Established in 2014 by the Azrieli Foundation, the Azrieli Music Prizes (AMP) offer opportunities for the discovery, creation, performance and celebration of excellence in music composition.

The Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music is awarded to a composer who has written the best new undiscovered work of Jewish music. Eligible works may have been premiered within seventy-five (75) years of the award date, but must not have a significant performance history, and must not have been commercially recorded.

The Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music is awarded to encourage composers to creatively and critically engage with the question “What is Jewish music?” This prize is given to the composer who proposes a response to this question in the shape of a musical work that displays the utmost creativity, artistry, technical mastery and professional expertise.

The Azrieli Commission for Canadian Music is offered to a Canadian composer to create a new musical work that creatively and critically engages with the complexities of composing concert music in Canada today. The prize is given to the composer who proposes a response to this challenge that displays the utmost creativity, artistry, technical mastery and professional expertise.

The Azrieli Commission for International Music invites composers worldwide to creatively engage with the richness of humanity’s diverse cultural heritage with the goal of fostering greater intercultural understanding through music. The Prize is awarded to the composer whose proposal displays the utmost artistry, technical mastery and professional expertise in response to the Prize theme.

Scores, proposals and supporting documents for the prizes are accepted from nominators and individual composers of all faiths, ages, backgrounds, gender identities and affiliations. The winning submissions for the first two prizes are selected by the AMP Jury for Jewish Music. The Canadian Commission is selected by the AMP Jury for Canadian Music. The International Commission is selected by the AMP Jury for International Music. These juries are comprised of a pool of leading experts assembled from the fields of music creation, culture, presentation and performance.

All four winning composers are expected to attend the rehearsals, performances and recording of their prize-winning works, and will be publicly honoured at the AMP Gala Concert, which will take place in Montreal every two years.