AWARD WINNERS AT

SOUNDTRACK_COLOGNE 22

Michael Abels · Career Achievement Award

Lucia Vité · WDR Filmscore Award

Melanie Gäb · European Talent Award Sound Design

Jamie Alpherts & Xiangming Niu · Honorable Mention - European Talent Award

 Clemens Gutjahr · Peer Raben Music Award

Kengo Tokusashi · Honorable Mention - Peer Raben Music Award

We are Fugazi from Washington D.C. · See The Sound Music Documentary Award

Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand · Honorable Mention - See the Sound Music Documentary Award

 

A festive evening at the WDR Funkhaus in Cologne marked the close of SoundTrack_Cologne’s 22nd edition on Friday, July 11th. The Award Ceremony celebrated the winners of our competitions and honored some of the most inspiring voices in film and media music, wrapping up a gripping week filled with over 70 panels and networking sessions.

With the WDR Funkhausorchester conducted by Enrico Delamboye, accompanied by the voice of soprano soloist Samantha Senn, the ceremony featured live performances of works by this year’s guests of honour: Jongnic Bontemps (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts), Olivier Derivière (South of Midnight), Jack Halama (Rivals), Sofia Degli Alessandri (Cobweb · Red, White & Royal Blue), Christoph Zirngibl (Hero of Centopia), Dominik Giesriegl (Die Schule der Magischen Tiere), Högni Egilsson (Katla), Dascha Dauenhauer (Islands), Anthony D’Amario & Edouard Rigaudière (Of Beast and Men),  as well as the night’s special honoree, Michael Abels (Us · Nope).

 

Michael Abels · Career Achievement Award

SoundTrack_Cologne 22 presented the Career Achievement Award to Michael Abels, acclaimed for his iconic scores to Get Out, Us, and Nope.

In his laudation, composer and colleague Jongnic Bontemps axalted Abels not only for his remarkable achievements in film music and his concert work, but also for his dedication to promoting diversity in the industry. As co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, Abels has played a key role in championing underrepresented voices in media composition.

Lucia Vité · WDR Filmscore Award

The WDR Filmscore Award went to Lucia Vité, whose submission captivated the jury with its extraordinary signature through creative instrumentation. Her composition was described as "brave and memorable", demonstrating a refined sense of space and dynamics through intelligent reduction in instrumental resources, by the jury composed of the manager of the WDR Funkhausorchester Corinna Rottschy, the composer Dascha Dauenhauer, professor Frank Döhmann and sound editor and sound designer Stefan Colli. 

Lucia Vité will now have the opportunity to record an original composition of up to 9 minutes with the WDR Funkhausorchester.

Melanie Gäb · European Talent Award Sound Design

Melanie Gäb received the European Talent Award in Sound Design for a work that demonstrated exceptional sensibility and imagination. The jury was particularly impressed by her understanding of "space and scenic location, her clever and courageous use of silence, and a remarkable synchronisation between elements". Melanie Gäb will be invited to create a 5.1 short film mixdown at toruspost.

Xiangming Niu & Jamie Alpherts · Honorable Mention - European Talent Award

An honorable mention was awarded to the composer team Xiangming Niu and Jamie Alpherts for a homogenous score "with good quality production and a creatively well-chosen instrumentation." The jury highlighted the score’s "classically high-value DNA”.

Clemens Gutjahr · Peer Raben Music Award

Clemens Gutjahr received the Peer Raben Music Award 2025 for his score to the short film Detlev. The jury, consisting of filmmaker Michael Chauvistré, and musicians Yvonne Cornelius (Niobe), and the award-winning French duo The Penelopes (Axel Basquiat and Vincent Tremel), recognised Gutjahr’s "precise, clever and courageous work" in scoring a film that is "quirky, dark and surreal." 

First presented in 2009, the Peer Raben Music Award honours the memory of the legendary German film composer and includes a prize of 1,500 Euros.

Kengo Tokusashi · Honorable Mention - Peer Raben Music Award

In the statement, the jury expressed they "love the score for the film" created by Tokusashi because of "the quality of the arrangments and the finesse of the recording". The jury noted the delicacy and originality of his musical approach, applauding how repetition and minimal gestures were used to convey beauty in everyday life.

We Are Fugazi from Washington · See The Sound Music Documentary Award

The See the Sound Music Documentary Award went to We Are Fugazi from Washington, a powerful (anti-)documentary built from archival fan-shot footage and interviews.

The jury, consisting of Sandra Brandl, Lennart Brauwers and Gregor Schwellenbach, emphasized the film’s raw, DIY aesthetic, which captures the energy of the legendary post-hardcore band Fugazi. They highlighted that the film not only reflects the band’s ethos of equality and anti-commercialism, but also connects past and present through the memories of fans who lived the experience firsthand.

Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand · Honorable Mention - See the Sound Music Documentary Award

Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand, a compelling portrait of the legendary French-Armenian composer, received a honorable mention at STC22 Award Ceremony. 

The jury highlighted the film for balancing traditional documentary techniques with broader creative ways of combining music and cinema. "Legrand's significance for the Nouvelle Vague is explained in an accessible manner, and his distinctive features, the blending of jazz and classical music, the introduction of new tonalities, etc., are vividly illustrated through his work", expressed the jury. 

Rather than mythologizing its subject, the film paints a nuanced picture of Legrand as an artist of brilliance, complexity, and contradiction.