HISTORY OF THE PRIZE
The Piccinni Prize is a prestigious award given by the Niccolò Piccinni Fund since 1967 to an excellence in the performing arts, capable of inspiring new generations with their creativity and professionalism.
Established in Belgium in 1967 by the descendants of Louis Alexandre Piccinni, the Prize is awarded by the Piccinni Prize Committee.
In May 1967, on his way to attend a concert at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Vittorio Piccinni, a melomaniac and descendant of Niccolò Piccinni and Louis Alexandre Piccinni, due to a car breakdown is forced to spend a night at the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes during the very event of the film festival.
During this brief stay he discovers to his amazement that the jury of the Cannes Film Festival awards the winners La Palme d’Or, which is not represented, unlike the Golden Lion of the Venice Film Festival, by a tangible object, but rather consists of a common papyrus paper certificate rolled by a very simple red satin ribbon.
The ceremony of the first edition took place during a gala evening at the Hôtel Métropole in Brussels.
After sixteen years of absence from the European music scene, Maximilien Seren-Piccinni decided to reinstate the prize by totally changing its original wording to give it an immediate image recognizable to all.
Since 2022 the prize has been made entirely of silver and evokes an 1823 bronze commemorative medal designed by Armand Auguste Caqué, aka Caqué F., and depicting the effigy of Niccolò Piccinni with his name in Latin, the very symbol of the Fund.
RULES
Art.1
The award takes the name “PICCINNI PRIZE”.
Art.2
The Prize consists of the awarding of a commemorative medal depicting the effigy of composer Niccolò Piccinni.
Art.3
The Prize will be awarded annually and will interest men and women who have distinguished themselves for professional competence, creativity, resourcefulness, seriousness, assignments and roles of high responsibility held internationally, in the field of opera, music, theater, entertainment, culture and the arts.
Art.4
Recipients of the award must have inspired, through their activities, a generation of artists.
Art.5
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be given each year, to one or two candidates, identified and deemed deserving of the recognition, bearing in mind the indications contained in points 3 and 4 of these Regulations.
Art.6
Candidates for the Prize may be nominated by any member of the Piccinni Prize Committee.
Art.7
The Piccinni Prize Committee consists of the Piccinni family, the President, members of the Fund, winners of past editions, music critics and institutional figures appointed by the President. The work of the Committee is unquestionable.
Art.8
The awarding of the Prize, with the reading of the motivations, will take place at any other conference or event organized by the Niccolò Piccinni Fund.
Art.9
All image and communication rights of the event remain reserved to the Niccolò Piccinni Fund and the awardees therefore authorize the Fund to use their image.
Art.10
The awardee must declare that he/she fully accepts the conditions of these regulations and authorizes the use of personal data in accordance with Law 196/2003 and its subsequent amendments.