Esa-Pekka Salonen has been awarded the 2024 Polar Music Prize.

The prize, which is a Swedish international award founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, gives one contemporary musician and one classical musician the prize. Salonen was awarded alongside Nile Rodgers.

Finnish conductor and composer Salonen had his breakthrough in 1983 when he conducted Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and as a composer he has embraced technological innovations, not simply for the sake of experimentation, but as a way to help people discover great music in the constantly changing world of media. Throughout his career, Salonen has been the Music Director of the LA Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony, among others.

Previous winners of the prize include Anna Netrebko, Renee Fleming, Kaija Saariaho, and Peter Sellars, among others.