Shortlist 2026
For the third time, the OPUS KLASSIK jury has selected a shortlist.*
You can find an overview of the nominated projects as a PDF here.
*The categories "07 Lifetime Achievement" and "28 Bestseller of the Year" are excluded from the shortlist. Category "29 Innovation Award for Sustainability" is presented in cooperation with Orchester des Wandels and the special category "Music Teacher of the year" in cooperation with Deutscher Musikrat.
01
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Female Singer of the Year
02
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Male Singer of the Year
03
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Instrumentalist of the Year
04
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Solo Live-Performance of the Year
05
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Conductor of the Year
06
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Composer of the Year
08
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Young Talent of the Year
09
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Orchestra/Ensemble of the Year
10
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Orchestra/ Ensemble Live-Performance of the Year
11
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Solo Recording Singing of the Year
12
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Solo Recording Instrument of the Year
13
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Chamber Music Recording of the Year
14
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Symphonic Recording of the Year
15
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Choral Recording of the Year
16
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Opera Recording of the Year
17
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World Premiere Recording of the Year
18
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Classic without Limits
19
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Classic without Limits LIVE
20
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New Classic/Neoclassic
21
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Film Music/Score of the Year
22
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Innovative Concert of the Year
23
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Tour of the Year
24
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Audiovisual Music Production of the Year
25
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Video Clip of the Year
26
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Innovative Listening Experience of the Year
27
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Prize for Promotion Young Talent (child and youth work)
29
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Innovation Award for Sustainability
Special category Music Teacher of the Year
n.n.
Lifetime Achievement
Liv Migdal
Beyond Horizons
Solo Recording Instrument of the Year
n.n.
Bestseller of the Year
Lise Davidsen
Live at The Met
© Pål Laukli
Female Singer of the Year
Benjamin Appl
For Dieter: Hommage à Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
© David Ruano
Male Singer of the Year
Nareh Arghamanyan
Femmes de Légende
© Isabella Abel
Instrumentalist of the Year
Avi Avital
Istanbul sinfonisch
© John Garve / Agentur 54°
Solo Live-Performance of the Year
Andris Nelsons
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphonies & Oratorios
© Marco Borggreve
Conductor of the Year
Dieter Ammann
glut - music for orchestra
© René Mosele
Composer of the Year
Julius Asal
SIENA TAPES
© Michael Reinicke
Young Talent of the Year
Concerto Köln
BACH vs. SCHEIBE
© Sonja Werner
Orchestra/Ensemble of the Year
Aurora Orchestra
Schostakowitsch 5 (auswendig)
Orchestra/ Ensemble Live-Performance of the Year
Marcel Brunner
Remembrance
Solo Recording Singing of the Year
Sol Gabetta
Lise Cristiani
Solo Recording Instrument of the Year
Quatuor Danel
Prokofiev: Streichquartette Nr.1 & 2
Chamber Music Recording of the Year
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Back to Nature: Čiurlionis & Gražinis
Symphonic Recording of the Year
Raphaël Pichon, Pygmalion
J.S. Bach: Mass in B Minor
Choral Recording of the Year
Joyce DiDonato, Michael Spyres, Maxime Emelyanychev, Il Pomo d'Oro
Purcell: Dido & Aeneas
Opera Recording of the Year
Elena Schwarz, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Elsa Barraine: Symphonies 1 & 2
World Premiere Recording of the Year
Esther Abrami
Women
Classic without Limits
Café del Mundo
GuitaRevolution Symphonic Tour
© Andreas Budtke
Classic without Limits LIVE
Benyamin Nuss
Personal Stories
New Classic/Neoclassic
Max Richter
Hamnet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Music/Score of the Year
Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
Meet the MOA - BIB:FEELING
© Grit Hartung
Innovative Concert of the Year
Café del Mundo
GuitaRevolution Symphonic Tour
© Andreas Budtke
Tour of the Year
Maria Bengtsson, Philipp Jekal, Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Donald Runnicles, Tobias Kratzer
Richard Strauss: Intermezzo
Audiovisual Music Production of the Year
Ólafur Arnalds und Talos
A Dawning
Video Clip of the Year
Werner Dabringhaus
Ensemble BachWerkVokal und Gordon Safar, Francesc Valls: con afecto
Innovative Listening Experience of the Year
Barenboim-Said Akademie
Musik spricht
Prize for Promotion Young Talent (child and youth work)
Apollo's Cabinet
Elements
© King's Place London
Innovation Award for Sustainability
Florian Aschenbrenner
© Tobias Neubert
Special category Music Teacher of the Year
Dorothee Mields
Barbara Strozzi: A Portrait in Five Acts - Duets for Two Sopranos
© Harald Hoffmann
Female Singer of the Year
Jakub Józef Orliński
If music...
© Honorata Karapuda
Male Singer of the Year
Alexej Gerassimez
Black Mountain
© James Chan A Sue
Instrumentalist of the Year
Anastasia Kobekina
Anastasia Kobekina & Sasha Waltz: BACH CELLO DANCE
© Nicolas Hudak
Solo Live-Performance of the Year
Tarmo Peltokoski
Richard Wagner: The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure
© Peter Rigaud
Conductor of the Year
Hildur Guðnadóttir
Where to From
© Camille Blake
Composer of the Year
Marcel Brunner
Remembrance
© Máté Gál
Young Talent of the Year
Il Pomo d'Oro
Purcell: Dido & Aeneas
© Nicola Dalmaso
Orchestra/Ensemble of the Year
Lucas & Arthur Jussen, Alexej Gerassimez & Emil Kuyumcuyan
Klavier-Duo trifft Percussion-Duo
© Sebastian Madej
Orchestra/ Ensemble Live-Performance of the Year
Christian Gerhaher
Brahms Lieder
Solo Recording Singing of the Year
Marc-André Hamelin
Found Objects / Sound Objects
Solo Recording Instrument of the Year
Wu Wei, Martin Stegner, Janne Saksala
Pur ti miro
Chamber Music Recording of the Year
Shani Lahav, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Mendelssohn: Sinfonie Nr. 3 "Schottische"
Symphonic Recording of the Year
Johanna Soller, Capella Sollertia
Johann Ludwig Bach: The Leipzig Cantatas
Choral Recording of the Year
Lise Davidsen, Edward Gardner, Orchestra and Chorus of Norwegian National Opera
Richard Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer
Opera Recording of the Year
Reinhard Goebel, Berliner Barock Solisten
Johann Philipp Kirnberger: Sinfonias
World Premiere Recording of the Year
Avi Avital, Between Worlds
Song of the Birds
Classic without Limits
Judith von der Goltz, Freiburger Barockorchester & Ensemble Recherche
HEAR! We move
Classic without Limits LIVE
Alice Sara Ott
Jóhann Jóhannsson: Piano Works
New Classic/Neoclassic
Jonny Greenwood
One Battle After Another
Film Music/Score of the Year
Anastasia Kobekina, Sasha Waltz
BACH CELLO DANCE
© Nicolas Hudak
Innovative Concert of the Year
David Garrett
Millennium Symphony
Tour of the Year
Jonas Kaufmann, Helmut Deutsch
Doppelgänger
© Gregor Hohenberg - Rendering DBOX
Audiovisual Music Production of the Year
Shani Diluka
Renaissance
© LiliROZE / Parlophone Records Ltd.
Video Clip of the Year
Rainer Maillard
Mikhail Pletnev, Chopin & Scriabin: 24 Preludes
Innovative Listening Experience of the Year
Freiburger Barockorchester und Ensemble Recherche
HEAR! We move
Prize for Promotion Young Talent (child and youth work)
Gregor A. Mayrhofer
Recycling Concerto
© SWR
Innovation Award for Sustainability
Luise Börner
© Martín Rebaza Ponce de León
Special category Music Teacher of the Year
Anna Lucia Richter
Gustav Mahler – Songs of Fate
© Julia Wesely
Female Singer of the Year
Andrè Schuen
Mozart
© Christian Leopold
Male Singer of the Year
Yunchan Lim
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations
© Karolina Wielocha
Instrumentalist of the Year
Anna Lapwood
Konzerte im Kölner Dom
© Sondre Eriksen Hensema
Solo Live-Performance of the Year
Michael Sanderling
Mozart Requiem / Fazıl Say Mozart & Mevlana
© Marco Borggreve
Conductor of the Year
Fazil Say
Mozart Requiem / Fazıl Say Mozart & Mevlana
© Marco Borggreve
Composer of the Year
Arvid Fagerfjäll
HIGH HOPES
© Kārlis Kalniņš
Young Talent of the Year
Quatuor Ébène & Belcea Quartet
Mendelssohn / Enescu: Octets
© CO MERZ / Parlophone Records Ltd.
Orchestra/Ensemble of the Year
Voces8
Twenty! 20 Songs from 20 Years
© Andy Staples
Orchestra/ Ensemble Live-Performance of the Year
Katharina Konradi
Franz Liszt: Un Cycle Imaginaire
Solo Recording Singing of the Year
Yoav Levanon
Liszt: Transcendental Etudes
Solo Recording Instrument of the Year
Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax
Beethoven for Three
Chamber Music Recording of the Year
Kazuki Yamada, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
William Walton: Symphonies 1 & 2, Orb and Sceptre
Symphonic Recording of the Year
Voces8
Paul Smith: Revolutions
Choral Recording of the Year
Emily D'Angelo, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Jeanine Tesori: Grounded
Opera Recording of the Year
Jaap van Zweeden, Colin Currie, New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Steve Reich: Jacob's Ladder,Traveler's Prayer
World Premiere Recording of the Year
Alice Sara Ott
Jóhann Jóhannsson: Piano Works
Classic without Limits
Duisburger Philharmoniker
Marxloh Music Circus
Classic without Limits LIVE
Sarah Kirkland Snider, Metropolis Ensemble
Forward into Light
New Classic/Neoclassic
Aleksey Igudesman, Hans Zimmer
Schwarzes Gold (Music from the Original TV Series)
Film Music/Score of the Year
Konzerthaus Dortmund
SLOW
© Oliver Hitzegrad
Innovative Concert of the Year
Anne-Sophie Mutter, London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Karina Canellakis / Anne-Sophie Mutter
© Andreas Ortner (2025)
Tour of the Year
Yunchan Lim
Bach: Goldberg Variations
Audiovisual Music Production of the Year
Cedric Pescia
J.S. Bach: The French Suite No. 5
© Christian Meuwly
Video Clip of the Year
Holger Schlegel
Céleste-Marie Roy, Rhapsodies: Works for bassoon solo
Innovative Listening Experience of the Year
Philharmonie Essen
Vom Mut zum Denken
© Sven Lorenz
Prize for Promotion Young Talent (child and youth work)
Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Sustainable Listening
© Staatsoper Unter den Linden / Markus Braumann
Innovation Award for Sustainability
Andreas Ernst
© Franz Bauer
Special category Music Teacher of the Year
Liv Migdal
Beyond Horizons
© Matan Goldstein
Instrumentalist of the Year
Nicolò Foron
BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique / BOULANGER D'un soir triste
© Ovidiu Matiu
Young Talent of the Year
Johannes Martin Kränzle
Franz Schubert: Winterreise
Solo Recording Singing of the Year
Maria Nowak, Katarzyna Budnik-Galazka, Yuya Okamoto, Krystian Zimerman
Brahms: Piano Quartets Nos. 2 & 3
Chamber Music Recording of the Year
Abel Selaocoe, Aurora Orchestra
Four Spirits
Classic without Limits
Hanni Liang
DREAMS
Innovative Concert of the Year
Marleen Kiesel
© Jan Felber
Special category Music Teacher of the Year
Alice Sara Ott
Jóhann Jóhannsson: Piano Works
© Jonatan Gretarsson
Instrumentalist of the Year
Astrid Knöchlein
Beyond Bach
© Peter Fraensemeier
Young Talent of the Year
Dorothee Mields
Barbara Strozzi: A Portrait in Five Acts - Duets for Two Sopranos
Solo Recording Singing of the Year
Nemanja Radulović
Prokofiev
Solo Recording Instrument of the Year
vision string quartet
in the fields
Classic without Limits
Philharmonie Leipzig
Deutschland von Oben - Vivaldi: Die Vier Jahreszeiten
© Konrad Stöhr
Innovative Concert of the Year
Andreas Kopfmann
© Andreas Kopfmann
Special category Music Teacher of the Year
Nemanja Radulović
Prokofiev
© Jean-Marie Fox / Parlophone Records Ltd.
Instrumentalist of the Year
Yoav Levanon
Liszt: Transcendental Etudes
© Simon Fowler / Parlophone Records Ltd.
Young Talent of the Year
Alexander Malofeev
Forgotten Melodies
© Dovile Sermokas
Young Talent of the Year
Jakub Józef Orliński
If music...
Solo Recording Singing of the Year
Jean Rondeau
Louis Couperin: The Complete Works
Solo Recording Instrument of the Year
Trickster Orchestra
Grenzerfahrungen
Innovative Concert of the Year
Leila Weber
© Andreas Knapp
Special category Music Teacher of the Year
Jean Rondeau
Louis Couperin: The Complete Works
© Clément Vayssieres
Instrumentalist of the Year
Sindy Mohamed
Farasha
© Sandra Ludwig
Young Talent of the Year
Frank Peter Zimmermann
Bartók Sonatas Nos 1 & 2 for Violin & Piano / Szymanowski Mythes
Solo Recording Instrument of the Year
Céleste-Marie Roy
Rhapsodies : Works for bassoon solo
© Enrique Pardo
Instrumentalist of the Year
Shira Patchornik
Bella Furia
© Loes Gorseling
Young Talent of the Year
Christian Tetzlaff
Elgar/Adès: Violin Concertos
© Giorgia Bertazzi
Instrumentalist of the Year
Sophia Schambeck
Nature
© Thomas Dold
Young Talent of the Year
Sarah Willis
Cuban Christmas
© Victor Cervantes
Instrumentalist of the Year
Leonard Schultsz
ESQUISSES
© Quim Vilar
Young Talent of the Year
Frank Peter Zimmermann
Bartók Sonatas Nos 1 & 2 for Violin & Piano, Szymanowski Mythes
© Harald Hoffmann
Instrumentalist of the Year
Simon Tetzlaff
Kodály, Sibelius, Ysaÿe
© Georgia Bertazzi
Young Talent of the Year
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