One of the most prestigious international prizes for emerging composers has been presented to a Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduate.

Matthew Grouse, who studied on the Bachelor of Music (Composition) degree, received the coveted Gaudeamus Award at the closing ceremony of the Gaudeamus Festival in Utrecht.

Alongside the recognition, the prize opens doors to new professional networks, with Gaudeamus actively connecting the winner to concert venues, ensembles, festivals and key stakeholders in the music world, both nationally and internationally. First presented in 1957, it has helped launch the careers of many leading contemporary composers.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” said Matthew, a composer, performer and organiser originally from Yorkshire, currently living and working in Copenhagen.

“The Gaudeamus Award is something I’ve applied for about seven times without any luck. It goes to show it’s worth continually pursuing opportunities like this, especially when the jury is changing each year.

“It’s quite bizarre looking through the list of past winners – Pauline Oliveros, Louis Andriessen, Unsuk Chin and Per Nørgård to name but a few … I’m in decent company!

“To have my work recognised in this way, particularly by a jury of composers I look up to (Yannis Kyriakides, Isabel Mundry and Moritz Eggert), is a real honour.”

The prize consists of a commission worth €5,000 for a new composition to be premiered at a future edition of the Gaudeamus Festival.

Two of Matthew’s works were performed during the festival – To Put Words in My Mouth (2025), written for Nadar Ensemble and commissioned by Gaudeamus Festival, and ctrl+Y (2021), performed by KLART.

Matthew, who graduated from RCS in 2018, studied composition with David Fennessy and Dr Linda Buckley, electroacoustic composition with Dr Alistair MacDonald and jazz guitar with Kevin MacKenzie.

Dr Oliver Searle, Head of Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “The Gaudeamus Award is one of the most prestigious international prizes for emerging composers, and winning it places Matthew in the company of some of the most influential figures in contemporary music.

“It’s wonderful to see Matthew’s work recognised at this level and so richly deserved.”

The Gaudeamus jury commented on how Matthew’s artistic identity is “grounded in the transformation of the everyday and mundane into material for composition, with both precision and wit.

On To Put Words in My Mouth, the jury highlighted its “remarkable technical command across all media, while offering sharp social commentary on the realities of digital communication today.”

Meanwhile, ctrl+Y demonstrated striking control of large-scale form, inventing his own musical materials and instruments in the process. Between what one can call soft and hard concept driven work, Matthew creates a truly contemporary voice.”

Reflecting on the festival, Matthew said: “I’m so incredibly grateful to the jury for finding something worth supporting in my music. Over the week, they offered up countless nuggets of reflection, advice, provocation and encouragement for all of the nominees.

“A huge highlight of this experience has been the chance to work with Nadar Ensemble, for whom I wrote To Put Words in My Mouth. I’m really proud of this work. I felt pushed through this collaboration to rethink recurrent threads in my work and explore some new avenues.

“Through their performance, the piece was taken to a level that I really couldn’t have foreseen.”

 To Put Words in My Mouth was performed at the Warsaw Autumn festival in Poland just days after the award win, with forthcoming performances at Belgium’s TRANSIT Festival in October and at New Music Dublin in April next year.

Find out more about Matthew at his website matthewgrousemusic.com

Interested in studying composition at RCS? Visit the programme pages to find out more about the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

Image credits © Rogier Boogaard