"Paris, Banlieue" is the name of Philippe Leroux's new work, which was premiered at the opening concert of the Donaueschinger Musiktage by the Südwestrundfunk (SWR) Symphony Orchestra under the direction of its chief conductor François-Xavier Roth and was awarded this year's "Orchestra Prize" following the final concert on 19th October 2025. In his work, Leroux addresses the network of relationships between the center of Paris and its suburbs – especially with regard to the movements of people that are triggered by their daily work. Felix Birnbaum, drummer of the SWR Symphony Orchestra, attested to the award-winning work in the laudatory speech "musical ideas and sound ideas that are allowed to develop. The choice of instruments has effect, the music has rhythmic poweroccasionally even Groove – and some of us had a surprising re-rehearsal catchy tune. A powerful, pictorial orchestral piece –with a surplus of electronics". The orchestra prize comes with the promise that the award-winning work will receive renewed performances in subsequent seasons of the SWR Symphony Orchestra as part of subscription and touring concerts.
To read the complete article, visit the Südwestrundfunk website (please note that this article is in German).