Nonesuch Records wishes to congratulate Kronos Quartet, which has been named the recipient of two internationally renowned awards: in the United States, the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, awarded for outstanding achievement and excellence in music, and in Sweden, the Polar Music Prize, an international music prize awarded to individuals, groups, or institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements. No other musician or ensemble has ever won both prizes, let alone in a single year.

Kronos Quartet will be honored as the 2011 Avery Fisher Prize recipient on Wednesday, June 8, at an invitational ceremony to be held at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. As the recipient of this coveted honor, Kronos receives a monetary award of $75,000. On a marble plaque in Avery Fisher Hall, Kronos Quartet’s name will join the 20 previous Prize recipients, among them Richard Goode, Nadja Salerno-Sonneberg, Edgar Meyer, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, and Yo-Yo Ma. The prestigious Avery Fisher Prize is awarded to individual musicians or chamber ensembles who are US citizens or permanent US residents for outstanding achievement and excellence in music. For more information, visit averyfisherartistprogram.org.

The Polar Music Prize laureates were announced this morning in Sweden at the Stockholm City Hall. The 2011 Polar Prize ceremony will take place on Tuesday, August 30, at the Stockholm Concert Hall, where King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden will hand out the awards, which carry a monetary value equivalent to approximately $155,000 ($1 million Swedish Kronor). Receiving the 2011 Polar Music Prize along with Kronos Quartet is singer/songwriter/poet Patti Smith. The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by the late Stig Anderson, publisher, lyricist and manager of the legendary pop group ABBA. Previous Laureates include Björk, Steve Reich, Joni Mitchell, Pierre Boulez, Bob Dylan, Renée Fleming, Valery Gergiev, B. B. King, György Ligeti, Miriam Makeba, Sonny Rollins, Ravi Shankar, Isaac Stern, and a host of others representing a wide range of countries, cultures, and continents. For more information, visit polarmusicprize.org.

Nominations for both the Avery Fisher and Polar Music Prizes are made secretly. Avery Fisher Prize recipients are chosen by the Executive Committee of the Avery Fisher Artist Program. The Polar Music Prize Committee receives nominations from ECSA (the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance) and its 38 author representative organizations in 25 European countries.